


Fanning the Flames

by Drifting_Clouds23



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Industrial Revolution, Alternate Universe - War, Angst, Betrayal, F/F, F/M, Faunus Rights, Personal Growth, Rich but unhappy Blake, Slow But Oh So Enjoyable Burn, Some Humor, good things come to those who wait, zwei always being there to bring some positivity
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-08
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2018-09-22 22:31:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 25,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9628145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drifting_Clouds23/pseuds/Drifting_Clouds23
Summary: In such a large, constantly bustling city Ruby and Yang work for every penny they earn. In between making much needed friends and trying to better their lives they find trouble brewing between people and faunus. It's hard enough to make a living, but if a fight breaks out, who knows what will happen.





	1. Sewing Cloth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day in the life of Ruby Rose, working, reminiscing, getting in trouble, and subsequently goofing off as soon as the cost is clear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This fic is vaguely based off of the industrial revolution, but you won't have to brush up your history knowledge to enjoy. Other than the stereotypical first fic rant, just wanted to wish you happy reading!

Ruby Rose, while often childish and rambunctious, was nothing if not willing to take up responsibility. From a young age she was expected to support for her family, and support she did. Every day she headed out at the break of dawn, a heavy red cloak once belonging to her mother the only thing protecting her from the biting winds, and went down to the Belladonna Textile Mills. Or at least that was the case on most days.

*Bark, bark*

“...”

*Growl*

“...Yawn?”

*Woof!”

The short haired girl shot up from her previously comfy position under the covers, a bang sounding from where her head hit the overhanging shelf, before sending a halfhearted glare at the dog on the floor next to her.

“What is it Zwei?”  
The black corgi merely tilted its head and curled up in a patch of sunlight on the wooden floor. It opened one eye as if to make sure Ruby didn’t go straight back to sleep, then proceeded to take a nap itself.

“Wait a minute,” she muttered as she grabbed the edge of the curtain and pulled it back. “It’s morning! Oh no, what time is it? Wait, I don’t even want to know.”

Shooting up she rushed through the small room, throwing open drawers and hastily putting on her threadbare black dress. Pulling on her cloak she took a quick glance at the mirror to make sure she didn’t look completely unpresentable, before dashing out of the room, door closing behind her. Not five seconds later she ran right back, slamming the door open and causing Zwei to jerk up from his slumber.

“Bye Zwei, hope you have a nice day napping!”

*...bark*

With that she headed down slowly filling roads, only briskly walking as she now saw she was only at most half an hour late and her rush earlier must’ve made up a good twenty minutes. The long walk through many twists and turns brought her to iron wrought gates, the metal threading images of flowers and vines. As elegant it was on the outside, the ornate image faded the further she trekked into the property, cobblestone paths fading to dirt and intricate gardens giving way to weed filled patches. 

True to her intuition, the doors had only just opened, and she filed into the dusty factory. Quietly exchanging greetings, she took her place amongst the women in worn out dresses and children in hand me down clothing and began to work the spinning wheel. 

Despite the lackluster environment, as well as her typically short attention span, Ruby found she soon lost herself in the repetitive motions and rhythmic sounds as she began her work. As the air began to cloud with stray fibers of cotton her mind also began to drift, the faint humming of the woman next to her lulling her away.

“If the stars all fall… when there’s no more light…”

Nostalgia hit Ruby as she instantly recognized the familiar tune. Resisting the urge to turn to the one singing and ask where she had learned it, she instead decided to indulge in the memories the lyrics had stirred up.  
______________________________________________________________________________  
Her mother used to sing that to Ruby back in Vale, standing confidently where Ruby stood now. Nimble fingers working the complex machinery with trained ease, piece after piece of cloth being mad as if it were the simplest thing in the world, seemingly taking no time at all. Such natural looking skill no doubt from countless years of experience if she started as young as she had made Ruby. 

If anything made those broiling days bearable it was her mother, calmly singing through the bustling factory. Every so often she’d look down at her daughter, a gentle warm smile gracing her porcelain face, and Ruby would forget how her body ached or how her eyelids felt heavy. As the years went by she joined her mother in the various melodies, only quieting when they heard the clanking of boots on the metal grates above, not wanting to get their pay deducted by the overseers.

Her life revolved around her mother, as she rarely saw her father and sister. Yang, older than Ruby by two years, had taken to joining her father in the metalworking factories. Comparable to her bright golden hair and violet eyes, her strength was anything but normal, lifting and hammering came to the elder girl as easy as breathing. Other than seeing her wild head of hair peeking out from their shared blanket before Ruby left for work, Yang was all but nonexistent in her life.

However, while they may have lived a divided life, there was one thing they shared together: income. A house of four was not easily supported, as Ruby often got Yang’s old clothes while Yang got their mother’s. A single meal was standard, falling either before or during their walk to the mill, and often consisted of merely bread and a small amount of meat.

“I will burn like the sun… I will keep you safe and warm…”

Ruby recalled the day her mother was held back after work hours, leaving her nervously standing out in the rapidly darkening clearing. Nervously fiddling with the hem of her worn out dress, she wrapped her arms around herself as the temperature began to drop. While it did little to warm her, the sensation at least felt mildly comforting.

After what seemed like an eternity the door creaked open and Ruby nearly knocked over her mother in a hug. A sigh of relief left her as bell like laughter filled her ears. Suddenly a heavy weight dropped around her shoulders and Ruby soon found the cold all but nonexistent, replaced by a surrounding warmth. A mass of red cloth drowned her small frame and her mother continued to laugh as she saw Ruby attempt to wear it, the fabric a good two feet too long.

“What do you think dear? I know it’s a bit big, but I think the color suits you,” folding the sleeves she situated it back on her daughter’s shoulders so that it barely skimmed the ground and ruffled Ruby’s curtain of hair. “I’ll be buying myself a new one tomorrow, your mother got a bonus for working hard!”

Gasping at the many sudden occurrences Ruby nestled herself in the cloak and reflected. She’d never heard of someone getting extra money! Though Ruby did notice she had to make more trips to restock her mother’s mill than the other children. And the cloak! Never had Ruby thought she’d see her mother without it, let alone have it given to her!

She enthusiastically skipped alongside her mother as they made the walk home, her positive mood blocking out the judgemental stares of passersby. To Ruby the sun might as well have been shining and the birds singing, because her day had never been more perfect.

Giddiness did not even begin to describe how Ruby felt as she neatly folded the cloak when she got home, tucking it away until her mother had time to alter it. As she got ready for bed she couldn't help but glance in its direction and let out a squeal, her excitement even making it difficult to fall asleep.

The next day they left home early, stopping by the marketplace for the new cloak, Ruby happily swinging her hand back and forth in her mother’s grasp. The cloak had been cheaper than expected, as Vale tended to have a fair climate during the day, and Ruby found her mother sharing in the positive mood as the walked to their job. 

Climbing the many flights of stairs to their work floor Ruby found herself admiring the pristine white of the billowing cloak, a red similar to her old cloak lining the inside. As they got settled at their station she watched as her mother delicately tied the cloak around her waist and began humming once more. As the repetition of their day set off Ruby found herself singing along as she energetically aided her mother.

“With a touch of my hand… I will turn your life to gold…”  
Their singing continued, and Ruby soon noticed her mother had stopped. Silencing herself she looked up inquisitively, noticing a faint sound over the steady drum of machinery.

“Momma what’s going-”

Ruby was cut off as her mother yanked her off the floor and cradled her daughter to her chest. An incredibly loud roar filled her ears and Ruby found herself peeking over her mother’s shoulder to see a sea of red engulfing the familiar scenery. As she stared in horror filled awe she caught sight of a woman desperately grasping out towards their direction, pale skin slowly charring.

“We have to get out!”

Ruby’s mother frantically ran towards the stairwell, ripping Ruby away from the image now seared into her mind. Turning to the direction they were running, tears streaming from her storm grey eyes, Ruby saw a crowd of people desperately trying to get to the exit.

“Why aren’t they moving?!”

Her mother frantically jumped up and down to try and see what was going on, the crackling of flames slowly encroaching on their only salvation as a scream ripped through the crowd.

“The doors aren’t opening!”

At that the once frightened crowd now turned to pure panic. There was pushing and shoving as Ruby tightened her grip on her mother’s dress. The sound of shattering glass filled rang out above the fire, and though Ruby was tightly pressed into the crook of her mother’s neck she heard her mother gasp out:

“They’re jumping?! We’re eight stories up!” 

As agonized shrieks joined the chorus of chaos Ruby’s crying soon turned into pained coughing, and she opened her eyes only to shut them out from the stinging of smoke. Her mother began to cough as well, the sounds of panic were thinning out, and Ruby felt her mother begin to stumble forward. 

“Hold on tight dear, don’t let go.” 

Ruby looked up towards her mother, identical silver eyes filled with tears looked down at her. Suddenly wind rushed past her and her mother cradled her tightly as the feeling of weightlessness started for a second, and then there was nothing.

“Don’t worry I’ve got you… nothing will ever harm you… I’m close by I’ll stay here… through all things I will be near…”  
______________________________________________________________________________  
“Miss Rose, focus please!” a light, but stern voice shocked her from her reverie and Ruby glanced upwards to see amber eyes staring down at her. 

Dressed in the finest black silks, Ruby’s sharp eyes couldn’t help but eye the gold embroidery with envy. A large satin bow was perched atop the girl’s head, vaguely Ruby thought about how her regal air almost made it feel like a tiara. After a moment the ebony haired girl raised a delicate eyebrow and Ruby remembered what she had been told.

“Yes ma’am,” she whipped around and began to take out the jammed thread that had no doubt alerted the girl above.

The sound of the rhythmic clacking of the machine once again filled the air and Ruby strained her ears to hear what her pay reduction would be, only to hear a faint sigh. The lightest of clicking faded away and when Ruby glanced up once more the girl was gone.

“Well thank goodness, thought you were a goner for sure,” a voice to her right spoke over the noise. 

Glancing over she saw warm chocolate eyes looking back at her from over the machinery. The girl looked no older than Ruby was, nervously fiddling with the strands of auburn hair that fell out from the large scarf wrapped around her head. Her accent was different, in a nice way, but then again Ruby supposed she had an accent as well as she was not a native to Atlas.

“My name’s Velvet, sorry if my humming distracted you,” the girl turned away for a second, removing old spools and bringing up new ones.

“No, no, I’m sorry. If that had been anyone else pay would’ve been taken from everyone next to me,” Ruby did the same maintenance with her station and then stood up ridiculously straight and puffed up her chest. “If your co workers are slacking it is your duty to get them back to work.”

Both girls shared a serious look, that lasted for a few seconds before they broke out into a stifled fit of giggles. Velvet managing to recover faster as her shaking hands worked the mill. Ruby soon followed as the telltale heavy thud of boots echoed from above, however once they were out of earshot Velvet tilted her head towards Ruby once more.

“You know, I’ve never seen Miss Belladonna out in the factory before…”

The spool Ruby had been switching out nearly fell from her hand as Ruby spun around and faced her newfound acquaintance. “You mean to tell me that was Miss Belladonna? As in the daughter of our boss?!”

Velvet nodded.

“Oh no! She’ll go back to her father and say I wasn’t working and then I’ll get fired and th-”

Resting a hand on Ruby’s shoulder Velvet broke Ruby out of her panic, “Easy now, no use getting worked up if you don’t know it’ll happen. I mean, she didn’t seem all that upset or anything.”

Sighing Ruby turned her entire focus back to her work, eager to make up for her lack of effort earlier. When their short break came, only offered because the machinery needed to be re-oiled, Velvet split an apple with Ruby and Ruby shared her bread. In the few moments they shared friendship was easily formed, a craving for positivity in such a drear place binding the two together.

“Wait, wait, wait! You can’t be serious! Your sister went up to a man who had whistled at her a- and…” Velvet trailed off into laughter, the sound of quiet snickers surrounded them as others couldn’t help but listen in.

“Kicked him between the uprights! It was pretty funny until the guy’s friends showed up, I don’t think I’ve ever ran so fast in my life…” Ruby shifted her feet as she reflected fondly on the memory. “Afterwards I felt like I could eat a mountain and my calves burned for days, it was horrible.”

Trading stories they proceeded through the day, time passing quicker than either had ever experience, until it was time for them to close up for the night. Workstations cleaned they prepared to depart into the chilly embrace of Atlas evenings, Velvet tightening her headscarf and Ruby fastening her cloak. Two flights of stairs and a heavy wooden door later they turned to say their goodbyes.

“My family would love for you to come over sometime, there wouldn’t be too much food, but my father always said good company is better than the most delicious feast,” Velvet paused, a warm hum reverberating from her. “Plus it would be nice to have some help with my younger brothers. You’d think I’d be able to keep up with the two of them, but I swear they’re more tiring than work is sometimes.”

“Yang and I would love to!” Ruby bounced excitedly on her heels as she saw a familiar shock of yellow in the distance, “I’ll be sure to ask her, see you later Velvet!”

“See you Ruby!” 

With that a red blur sped down the road, kicking up dust until it barreled into a tall, well endowed blond. Crashing to the ground both figures were thoroughly covered by the expanse of red cloth, both struggling to get up from the entanglement.

“Ruby, nice of you to drop by!!” the girl chuckled as her purple eyes glimmered with amusement. “Literally.”

Offering a hand Ruby was easily pulled up, nearly bowling into the older girls chest. Giggling Ruby straightened out her cloak before taking both of the other girl’s hands and swinging them up and down.

“Guess what Yang! I made a friend today!” her voice rose in pitch as her sister smiled down at her. “She said she’d ask her family about us coming over. Just picture it, more than just us two eating dinner!”

“Sounds great kid!” Yang swung her arm over her sister’s smaller shoulders. “You can tell me all about it once we’re out of this cold though. If I stay out any longer I might freeze!”

The two strode through the slowly emptying streets, Ruby offering her cloak and Yang politely turning the offer down as was routine. Stopping by the market they picked up a small amount of food, the price having dropped due to the produce not selling throughout the day, and they headed towards their house.

Though run down and seemingly desolate, the two visibly warmed at the sight of their home, Yang unlocking the door and letting them in. Going through to the section of their main room they called the kitchen, Ruby set down the miniscule amount of groceries and turned to find the fireplace roaring, Zwei already basking in it’s warmth. Thankfully huddling down next to the flames she held out her hands to warm as Yang settled down next to her, wrapping a blanket around the two of them.

“So, tell me about this new friend of yours.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, as much as I want Ruby's cloak, every time I look at it I think of that lady from The Incredibles going "No capes!" I mean seriously, it's fashionable, but impractical and dangerous. No, just me? Kay, I'll be going. *Walks out of room, sighing*


	2. Regrettable Facts of Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An average day in the life of Blake Belladona, meaningless tasks assigned by her father, and the guy who keeps climbing onto her fifth story balcony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, thanks for sticking with this fic, or checking out for the first time. I've decided every chapter would be from a different, but connecting, point of view, adds some variety. Hope you enjoy!

Blake Belladonna was a girl of few words and many, many thoughts. Perhaps it was just her nature, or the fact that her father had said that women are supposed to be seen and not heard. Then again, she doubted the validity of many things that come out of her father’s mouth.

In fact she was relatively sure that when her father sent her to oversee the workhouses, it wasn’t to see how easy she had it, but merely to get her out of his sights for the day. Hours spent traipsing along the hanging grates only left her affirmed that the men were being severely overpaid for yelling, and the women overworked and underpaid for their constant labor.

She was amazed that they were able to function which such precision for hours, and when the sound of singing lures her to one corner of the factory she is unsurprised to see a girl absentmindedly staring at her jammed loom. With the short black hair and heavily mended black dress Blake immediately recognized her, the girl who was always brought by and left with the blond who her father constantly rants about. Something about men’s work, overconfidence, and false success. 

“What did he say her sister’s name was…” she muttered before snapping and calling from over the rail. “Ms. Rose, focus please!”

Apparently having startled her, the girl jumped and whipped around, big silver eyes looking up at Blake with alarm for a second before lingering on her dress. Looking down to see if there was anything out of the ordinary, she saw that the cotton has begun to cling to the black of her dress. Blake felt embarrassed for a second before seeing that the girl was in the same state as her, and instead settled for raising an eyebrow.

It appeared to bring the girl back to her senses as she flushed and nodded rapidly, “Yes ma’am.”

Spinning around to face her station once more, Blake watched for a moment, awed at the speed in which she resumed her work. Looking to see if she drew the attention of any of the overseers, Blake thankfully saw them milling about in opposite corners, and she quickly left, unwilling to give her father a reason to fire Ms. Xiao Long’s sister.

Peeking out an open window she saw the sun starting to head downwards and, after a brief moment of contemplation, decided to sneak back to her room. Slipping out the back door and hoisting the skirt of her dress up in order to move faster she made her way into the manor and up the staircase that lead to her quarters.

The large, yet sparsely furnished room showed few signs of Blake being it’s resident, only the slightly overwhelming amount of books scattered across the room. Despite the mess she purposefully walks over to a pile of novels on her desk and picks the third from the bottom, padding across the hardwood to exit onto her balcony and settling down on a chair.

“Just an hour or two and I’ll sneak back in,” Blake whispered before turning to the page with the corner folded, eyes already devouring the words.

“Where are we sneaking into?”

At the voice breathing down her neck, Blake shot up from her seat, banging her head against the voice’s owner. As pained groans emanated from both, Blake turned around, hand over her heart, to glare at the taller redhead, who merely laughed at her expression.

“Adam!” she growled, book all but forgotten on the floor.

“Sorry kitten, couldn’t help it. I saw the opportunity and I went for it,” he said as he leaned against the rail. “But if you don’t have a place to sneak into, I have something in mind…”

“For the last time Adam, I’m not going to one of your odd cult things! You know father would never let me go anywhere by myself again if he found out, not to mention that he’d have your head!”

This had become somewhat of a common occurrence for Blake, as Adam was both persistent and resourceful. Without the heart to turn down someone who had helped her more than once, she dealt with his weekly visits. While most would be concerned as to how a grown man managed to get on the fifth floor without going through the manor, Blake accepted it as a fact of life. A regrettable, and certainly annoying, fact of life.

“Come on Blake, you know what I am,” he gestured to the hat set upon his crimson hair, “I know that you are,” he poked at the black bow perched on her hair, “How can you not support the White Fang’s cause?”

The girl rolled her amber eyes and returned to her seat, only years of etiquette keeping her from slouching. Adam, seeming to sense her irritability, fished through his pockets, and ended up dropping a ball of yarn on the small glass table they were situated around.

At first it seemed as if Blake was once again going to roll her eyes, however as the yarn rolled towards her a delicate hand lifted up, and she proceeded to snatch it up. Batting it back and forth between her hands she glared as Adam began to chuckle at her actions.

“First of all, who names their cult the White Fang, second of all, I'm not against their cause, merely their barbaric way of going about it, and third, did you really have to bring the yarn out?”

He carefully tousled her hair before taking the seat across from her,“Well I don't see you complaining about the yarn, and I didn't hear you complaining the last couple of times you helped me out.”

Kicking his feet up, Adam tilted his head, “Whenever your loving father kicks you out we're the first ones you turn to, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if we're the only ones.”

Blake paused, the yarn unraveling and tangling around her fingers, “What exactly do you have in mind Adam.”

With a smirk spreading across his face he leaned down and grabbed his satchel, setting a bundle of darkly colored fabric down between them. Blinking, Blake picked up one of the pieces, unfurling a pair of pants.

“Is this some over the top way to ask me to do your laundry?” she said sitting it back on the table with mild disgust.

“No genius, these are for you,” he pushed the clothes toward her, “Everyone knows the daughter of Mr. Belladona, a refined young lady. However no one would recognize her walking in such… unseemly clothing.”

“So you want me to dress like a man!?” 

“Oh come on, Blake. It's just a pair of pants, they won't kill you, I promise.”

“But I-”

“Ten o’clock tonight. Meet me outside the clock tower, don't keep me waiting kitten,” he rose and bent down, picking up her book and setting it on the table, “Also don’t let the others know you read crappy romance novels, it would ruin my reputation.”

He turned around and smiled, leaving Blake with her mouth wide open, before promptly jumping off the balcony. While the first few times he made his dramatic exit left her clinging to the rail in worry, she instead collected her thoughts and lifted up the clothing, holding it at arm's distance, as she brought them into her room.

Brushing aside a rather messy stack of notes she set down the clothing, shook her head in dismay. Blake could memorize entire novels, she could dance for hours, she could carry conversation about politics without looking like she wants to throw herself out the nearest window, but for the life of her she had no clue how to put on men’s clothing.

Reluctantly she unfolded the bundle, scowling at the wrinkles that littered the dark fabric. She laid them out, surprised when a flat cap comes tumbling out, only to realize that men do not wear bows, and Adam no doubt thought about that ahead of time. 

Closing her curtains, she brought her hands up to her bow and untied the ribbon, revealing a pair of black cat ears. Sighing in content as the appendages flicked and rotated, she placed the hat atop her head, and was promptly stunned at how little she could hear.  
“As if the bow wasn’t debilitating enough,” she huffed as she tried to get used to the feeling. It wasn’t quite that sound didn’t reach her, while it was slightly muffled it was harder to tell where it was coming from. 

After a few minutes she decided that it was merely something she had to deal with, and instead decided to deal with the actual clothes. Discarding her dress, Blake picked up the shirt, and upon deigning that unlike dresses it lacked a zipper, eventually just pushed her head through. A bit of struggling later- later if someone asked she would deny feeling like she was in a straight jacket for half the time- she managed to get herself situated. 

Raising her arms she was surprised at how loose it was, nowhere near as constraining as her dresses, and she found herself positively going to the pair of pants. However she soon found that the shirt was the easy part, as it took her forever to find out that putting it on one leg at a time was the right way to go about it.

“I feel like I’m wearing a blanket,” she mumbled as she paced in circles, attempting to get use to the odd feeling of the fabric around her legs. “There are no layers, I’m going to freeze out there.”

Exceedingly glad that her father made sure she was taught to walk with perfect posture, she found herself quickly learning, and after drowning the rest of the time reading her “crappy” romance novel, she found her clock hitting nine.

“Right, the workhouse lets out now, I should blend into the crowd,” she said to herself as she firmly set the hat back on her head, tucking her hair under it, and hastily leaves the manor. 

Entering the stream of people exiting the iron gates, she smiled as she saw the two sisters barrel into each other laughing, a jumble of red and yellow. Nearly laughing at their antics herself, she caught herself, merely smiling as violet eyes lock onto her’s for a moment.

Turning away from the pair, she continued with the flow of people heading North, strongly wishing she could take a horse drawn carriage, as on foot it takes her over half an hour to bumble through what would’ve been a five minute ride.

The tower, while carrying rustic charm during the day, was rather unappealing at night. In the dark it appeared rickety, and when the bell rang Blake nearly jumped from her perch on the steps of it.

“Punctual as always I see.”

At that she did jump, not even bothering to turn and see the smug face of Adam. Chuckling for a second he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and gestured toward a carriage situated at the side of the road.

“Your carriage awaits, m’lady,” he says as he pulls her towards it, giving her a once over,”or should I say sir?”

Brushing off his comment she instead focused on more pressing matter.

“Where are we even-” she pauses before looking skeptically at him. “You can drive this right?”

Placing a hand over his heart he gasps as he helps her onto the box, “How you wound me, Blake, how you wound me.” 

Hauling himself up, he grabbed the reigns and looked over at the still doubtful girl, “Guess you’ll just have to find out, and if it turns out I can’t at least you have nine lives.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not an Adam hater, I just don't like him. Most of my friends hate his guts, but I'm just like "whatever". Also while writing this I was thinking, it'd be interesting to play a game of cat's cradle with Blake, if she could make it through without screwing it up and batting it around. Oh, btw I'll be trying to stick to the schedule of posting every Wednesday.


	3. Unexpected Passengers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trains. Weiss is also there. Someone else too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, bringing our girl Weiss in this chapter, hope you enjoy! Also check out the notes at the bottom for updating changes, I'm sorry in advance!

Weiss was bored. Completely and utterly bored in a manner that she had not experienced since the time her father forced her to accompany him in a meeting. Like the previous time she showed no signs of her discontent, blue eyes staring down at the book below her as if it wasn't her second time reading it.

The train was quite intriguing at first, however the novelty wore thin after five hours, and Weiss longed to set her feet on solid ground. Instead she settled for tapping her foot incessantly on the floor of the train in a vain attempt to drown out the uneven rhythm of the engine. While it failed to do so tremendously, it apparently garnered the attention of her brother seated across from her.

“Sister, you seem… uncomfortable.”

Looking up Weiss met Whitley’s gaze, tapping faltering at his plastered on smile. The thought of his constant smiles being genuine had long faded from Weiss’s mind, not that the instructors or her father had caught on yet. It was more of a reassuring constant than anything; in fact Weiss dreaded the day that his coy smile faltered into a frown.

While she can’t deny the obvious similarities in appearances, she still thinks that his eyes take on a whole new meaning to the phrase “cold as ice”. Other than that, their snow white pallor, refined white and blue clothing, and immaculate posture matched each other perfectly.

“It’s nothing Whitley,” she paused for a second as the train rattled particularly hard, “Merely a bit… tired.”

He chuckled softly; shifting in his seat for what Weiss could say was at least the twentieth time within the past ten minutes. Straightening up to his full height- regretfully far above Weiss- he faced her full on. Whitley lifted up the novel that he had been reading, folding the corner of his page before holding it out to her.

“What do you say to a trade? While I know that politics isn’t exactly the most interesting topic, perhaps this should halt your progress in wearing a hole into the floor.”

She blinked, startled at the gesture, before genuinely returning his smile and handing him her book. In honesty, the development of politics in Atlas wasn’t exactly thrilling, but a bit of change was thoroughly appreciated. Although she couldn’t help but think Whitley got the better end of the deal, the folk tale of the four maidens was certainly more enjoyable.

Perhaps her thoughts on her siblings were skewed; after all while they certainly held a grudge for each other, they had no quarrel with her. Winter and Whitley just didn’t get along, and as far as Weiss could see, couldn’t. Maybe it was for the best though, she thought as she opened the book, Weiss would rather know their feelings than have them bottle it up. She dare not think what it would be like for them to snap.

Deciding to file away the terrifying thought for late, Weiss curled up against the sill of the window, eyes quickly absorbing the bland but informational text. She managed to get to the second chapter, surprisingly enthralled with development of Faunus rights- before another harsh jolt startled her back to reality. Upon exiting her trance a low growl erupted from her stomach, and her pale face turned red at her brother’s laughter.

“I do believe the food cart is just a few carts down,” he grinned as she huffed, tilting his head in amusement, “Would you grab me something while you’re down there, I’m afraid you’re not the only peckish one around here.”

Nodding in assent she rose to stand, if only to escape the eminent teasing, and brushed down her white dress before clicking the apartment door open and stepping out. The hall was empty, as for other than crew, she and her brother were the only passengers. Making her way through the corridors with relative ease she managed to reach the food cart with only a few missteps.

Scanning the selection, her eyes honed onto a tin of pastries, which she immediately grabbed. Thinking her brother might want to share while there was no one to scold them, she happily tucked them under her arm, reaching to open the compartment.

As she pried open the door she found herself tumbling backwards as the train violently jerked, an alarmingly loud bang sounding from further down the train. In a bout of curiosity and frustration she quickly got up and threw open the door leading to the next railcar, only to once again fall in alarm.

Twin shouts were lost in the billowing wind as Weiss gaped openly at the figure dressed in black, who had nearly fallen as well. Yellow eyes met equally as wide blue ones before disappearing as quickly as they came, lithe form scaling the side of the train before climbing onto the roof.

“Who in the world…”

Weiss’s mind raced, before recalling that the figure had been carrying something, and that her father had specifically said that the cargo was of the utmost importance. A revolutionary invention that would cement the Schnee name into history, something that could change the very way people live. Dust he had called it, a force that held the power of the elements, named after the crystals mentioned in one of her folk tales.

Thus, with renewed vigor, she again picked herself up racing through the train. Straining her ears, she followed the faint sound of rapid footsteps. A sudden loud thump echoed from above, and upon the next gap between railcars she found that the thief had stumbled, clutching to the top of the train.

Latching onto a black clothed leg she dragged the person down with her, tackling them onto the floor of the next compartment. Struggling to hold down their thrashing form, Weiss went to grab the case before hearing a muffled exclamation from her captive. Looking down at them in confusion she once again met wide amber eyes before pain erupted on the side of her head and her world went black.  
______________________________________________________________________________

“Did you have… knock her out?”

“What was I… had to do something.”

“Let’s just… what we came for… leave. Wait… how… get off?”

“Well…”  
______________________________________________________________________________

As Weiss regained consciousness, she soon found that not doing so was far more favorable. Her head was pounding, the indistinguishable noise above was paining her to hear. With a minute or two she managed to feel more grounded, distinguishing a feeling warmth on her shoulders, as well as the bruises that were forming on said arms.

“Weiss… Weiss wake up…”

She recognized that voice. The tone was foreign to her, but Weiss knew the light voice of her brother, and pried her heavy eyelids open. Bright blue filled her gaze, quickly replaced with the ceiling of the railcar as her brother hugged her smaller frame close, shaking in what Weiss soon identified as relief.

“Whitley? What happened?”

“I thought you were taking a long time to get food, so I went to go look for you. I opened the door to the next compartment a- and you were lying there. I rushed to you when suddenly the train halted. We both flew back- they said someone hijacked the train. We managed to make it into the city.”

Struggling to a sitting position, Weiss was supported by her brother, barely managing to hold back blacking out again. Grasping at her memories, she managed to piece together what had happened.

“There was a guy in black, I managed to catch him, but someone came up behind me and…”

Whitley nodded, and while he didn’t frown, his smile fell and Weiss knew that whoever had stolen from the Schnee family would come to regret it. She knew she would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From the second I saw Whitley, my immediate thought was, "This guy is the definition of sketchy". Then again I think that about a lot of characters... Anyways, I'm going to be bringing my updates down to every other Wednesday. I'm really sorry since I know we're only three chapters in, but I'm going to be working on writing a visual novel, and I don't want my updates to be random! Not a guarantee every other, so if I do have a chapter ready two Wednesdays in a row, yay!


	4. A Place to Stay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang. Blake. Meeting. Need I say more?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of the slow but sure burn of bumblebee.

Yang Xiao Long was two things at that exact moment in time: tired as hell, and subsequently hungry as hell. It was one thing to deal with the constant complaints and bickering of the men at the factory- half the insults they used she didn’t even understand, yet she threw back ones with twice the bite- however the actual workloads seemed to be increasing recently.

As the bell tolled above her, signalling the end of the work day, Yang sighed and rolled her shoulders. Her hands and gloves were covered in fine black dust and sweat, and upon removing her goggles from her eyes marks were clearly visible. Snatching her towel from it’s place tucked around her belt she cleaned herself off as good as possible, before grabbing her tools and heading towards the exit.

“Yo girly, where exactly are you heading?”

Yang briefly considered ignoring him, before remembering that it had been a while since she’d last set an example. Weighing the pros and cons, she nodded to herself and spun around.

“To pick up my sister,” she looked him up and down, realizing he was new, and pulled on a sinister look, “How about you? You heading home or do you wanna end up in the hospital?”

At that he blinked, taking a while to process her comment, and upon noticing it was an insult he frowned.

“What you gonna do huh, smother me to death?”

Resisting the urge to immediately hit him she waited as he rose to his full height and walked close enough to loom over her.

“Nothing to say girly? Scare-”

The wide open factory echoed with a shout of pain as he crumpled to the soot covered floor, arms tangled in confusion as his instincts couldn’t decide to cradle his face or his privates. Meanwhile Yang shook her leg a bit and silently praised her decision to wear gloves even out of work, she did not want that guy’s blood on her hands.

“Well that was sad,” she offhandedly commented as the crowd of men stood clear from her, eyes widening in fear as her violet eyes drifted over them, “Do the idiot a favor and take him to the hospital… or don’t.”

She shrugged and headed out into the streets, nuzzling her face into her orange scarf. Once she would have fled after fighting with one of the men, but she soon learned that they valued their pride above all else, and instead took to enjoying their multiple “drunken bar fight” stories. Compared to them, her boss must at least like that she doesn’t seem to have a black eye every other week.

Laughing softly she strolled down the carriage filled streets, noting the odd amount of traffic. Assuming there was an event of some kind she ignored it, until she ran into a wall of people and a train that was motionless on it’s tracks.

“Can you believe it? Train apparently broke down, right in the middle of the city too. Just my luck.”

“How am I supposed to get home? My wife and kids are expecting me!”

“What do you mean the conductor said it’d take all night to make repairs!”

Yang did not have to question what had happened, as it seemed to inconvenience everyone within seeing distance. While the night was filled with shouts of outrage, she only yawned and grimaced as her stomach growled. Closing her eyes in thought she tried to think if Ruby had somewhere to stay.

Nearly snapping she opened her eyes as she recalled Ruby had said her friend lived to the East. While Yang was hesitant, the girl- Velvet was it?- seemed nice, and no amount of complaints could move a train that stretched on farther than her view. Besides, Ruby wouldn’t appreciate Yang letting Zwei “starve”, and so she wormed her way out of the crowd and started on her way home.

She hadn’t made it two blocks before she was distracted by shouting that sounded aggressive instead of upset, gaze turning to an alley way. Yang was no stranger to actual drunkards sloppily fighting and was about to resume her walk until another shout rang out, this time distinctly female.

“Le- let go of me!”

At that Yang all but bolted down the dim alley, vaguely making out two figures pinning a smaller one to the wall. With her infinite streets smarts she didn’t even consider a plan, and merely ran up and hit them both- very hard- right across the head. Their bodies dropped, as did the trembling body of the other figure, and after shoving the unconscious bodies to the side Yang knelt down next to them.

“You okay? They didn’t hurt you or anything?”

The figure stayed silent for a moment, as the shaking began to subside. Coughing they nodded, raising their head to fixate their amber stare on Yang.

“I’m fine, it was merely an unpleasant experience.”

Yang felt a strong and sudden urge to laugh at their understatement, say she had pretty eyes, or compliment her functional choice of clothing. She settled for the last one.

“Nice to see I’m not the only one who’s not afraid to walk around in whatever clothing they want,” Yang stood and offered a hand to the shorter girl.

Containing a chuckle at the barely visible tint of red on the girl’s cheeks, Yang smiled as the paler hand grabbed onto hers, and pulled her up-perhaps too quickly. Yelping the girl all but crashed into her, all but leaping a foot in the air while profusely apologizing. 

“Hey it was nothing, no harm done right?” 

The girl nodded, dainty hands nervously fiddling with her hat. While the contact was brief, Yang was surprised to have not felt callouses, after all even her sister had them, and her labor was considered “suitable” for women.

“Do you happen to know which direction is North? I'm a bit lost.”

“Well, I would point you that way,” Yang gestured back the way she came from, “but you'll get just as far as I got, which was the giant crowd that may or may not have started toting pitchforks and torches.”

“Pitchforks?” the girl repeated, owlishly peering down the alley as if she could catch a glimpse.

“Oh, it's nothing that bad. Apparently a train got hijacked or something, won’t be moving til morning. Hope you weren't going anywhere important.”

Opening her mouth to answer, the girl paused, yawned, then muttered:

“I work up there, but it should be fine. If i can't make it, twenty others can't either.” nodding as if to reassure herself she turned towards the street, “I’ll just find a place to sleep… or at least wait.”

Watching as she began to walk, Yang noticed she had a limp, and over the faint hum from the road heard a hiss. Yang reached forward and placed a hand on her shoulder, backing up when she whipped around only to hold the girl up as she clutched her head.

“Hey, I thought you said you weren't hurt!”

“It's nothing-”

“Did you hit your head when they pushed you against the wall? I swear, I regret just knocking them out.” Yang nudged the nearest unconscious guy, “Men think can just take whatever they want, am I right?”

That seemed to ring true in the girl as she earnestly laughed in an odd mix of amusement and pain.

“Listen,” Yang sidled up beside the girl, bearing the majority of her weight, “If you want, you can stay at my place. I don't want you wandering around in the state you're in, some other guy could try something.”

Taking a brief moment to decide she ended up nodding, leaning more thoroughly on Yang’s taller frame.

“Perfect, we're not even two blocks away too.”

With that they set off at a leisurely pace, Yang keeping the girl in the shadows after she noticed her shying away from passerby. In a few minutes they reached the old wooden door that was the entrance to Yang’s humble abode.

Setting the girl by the couch Yang suddenly began to notice how the room could use a dusting, and how she forgot to fold the blanket, and how Zwei was now growling at her guest-

“Zwei, be nice!”

The corgi tilted its head, Yang could imagine an eyebrow being raised in indignation, and padded up to the stranger.

*Woof*

If anything the girl looked just as put out, yet she held out a hand and let the dog sniff. There was a moment where Yang felt a mix of curiosity and tension, and then Zwei merely curled up next to the fireplace as if choosing to ignore the girl. 

“Sorry about that, Zwei’s not the biggest fan of new people, unless they're carrying food, in which case he’ll love you.” Yang commented as she bent down and lit the fire.

“It's fine, I’m not the biggest fan of dogs…”

“What! How can you say no to this!” Yang gestured enthusiastically to the rather unimpressed dog.

The girl's light laughter filled the room and Yang smiled, proud about being able to bring her mood up. Yawning she felt exhaustion taking hold, her sentiments reflected as the girl echoed her yawn.

“Well, we should probably hit the hay umm…”

Yang trailed off and the girl blinked before realizing that she wanted her name.

“I'm… Bella.”

“Nice name. I’m Yang and should she end up home sooner rather than later, you’ll meet my sister Ruby. You’d love her, so positive and caring, in fact I’m sure she’d be upset if I didn’t offer you a place to stay.” Yang rambled, ignoring the pause in Bella’s answer.

“She sounds lovely,” Bella looked up and yawned a third time.

“Right sleep,” Yang trailed off for a second, “Where should you go…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Creative name there Blake *slow claps*. As much as I love to think of Blake kicking those guys' butts, I'd like to see you fight some grown men after being tackled to the ground and escaping a train. A girl can only handle so much in one day. Anyways, bumblebee! So excited to get to the part where they all start crossing paths and getting into all sorts of trouble!


	5. It's Too Early to Deal With This

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby gets home. There's someone other than Yang in her bed. Goddammit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The birth of the first in story Bumblebee shipper. All aboard, this ships about to take off!

Ruby had never been so tired nor had so much fun at the same time. After hearing about the train, Velvet had quickly offered her a place to stay, and after a brief moment she gladly accepted. Yang could take care of herself in a fight, less so in the household- watching her sister attempt to sweep was both painful and hilarious- but Ruby was sure Yang couldn't burn the house down in one night. Right?

The Scarlatina house was a little bigger than Ruby’s home, but then again she didn't think that all these people could fit in her house. There was constant commotion, the resonant sound of Velvet’s father whenever a son got too rowdy, the laughter of Velvet when Ruby got roped into their shenanigans, it was overwhelmingly incredible.

Yet morning came, and a quick pop outside carried the news that the train had managed to roll into the station for proper maintenance. Wrapping her cloak around her Ruby began to say her farewells, only to become a second herder for Velvet’s brothers.

“Sorry about them, they never seem to run out of energy,” Velvet sighed as she watched them start their third game of tag despite them only walking for ten minutes.

“Are you kidding? If I didn't have to give directions I’d be playing too, not to mention we’d probably be on the sixth game, I'm pretty fast, if I do say so myself.”

They both laughed, passing over the railroad crossing, their attention grabbed by a brother's exclamation.

“Whoa, look sis!”

The herd of children pushed through the thin crowd, and with a shrug the two girls followed. A gasp echoed, joining the ones of other early morning commuters, and Ruby hesitantly reached out a hand to the spectacle before them. A tall jagged piece of ice rose up from the ground as if they were in the middle of the harshest winter, and after her pale fingers actually felt the cold, Ruby knew it wasn't a mass hallucination.

“Maybe the train was shipping ice? Or…”

“Nah Velvet, look at the ground around it!” Another brother gestured at wide, arching scorch marks littered the dirt.

Mumbling erupted from the gathering audience, and Ruby, while equally curious, yawned. 

“You know, as much as I love playing detective at the crack of dawn, I wanna make sure my sister didn't manage to destroy my house- or the entire neighborhood.”

With a last glance at the ice, the group made their way through the streets filling with early morning traffic, and down winding roads till they came up to the worn out door to Ruby’s home.

“Looks like it's in one piece,” Velvet joked as Ruby fished out her key.

“Yep, thank goodness.” Ruby turned the key and unlocked the door. “Well, tell your father thanks for having me. It was so much fun!”

“Of course! You're welcome whenever! Say bye boys.”

A chorus of goodbyes rang up into the narrow street, and Ruby giggled and waved before stepping inside and closing the door behind her.

*Yip*

Her grey eyes turned to find Zwei basking by the fireplace- that was still lit… Ruby face-palmed.

“Yang went to bed with the fireplace still burning...” she sighed and took off her cloak. “I gotta stop joking about her burning the house down, she might be taking it as a challenge.”

*huff*

“Got that right buddy,” she bent down and scratched behind his ears, “I’ll have to put you in charge next time.”

Enjoying the moment as Zwei wagged his tail and insisted on belly rubs, Ruby nearly fell asleep there, and decided that she desperately needed to head up to bed. Stumbling up the creaking stairs she slipped into the room and decided that she was just too tired to put on pajamas. Instead she peeled back the covers on her side and was about to climb in when she realized something different.

There was a girl already there.

With her subconscious attempting to question why, she instead shrugged and nudged the girl over, settling down on what little space there was. Whatever the reason, it could wait until morning, Ruby thought as she nestled under what blanket was left, eyes closing almost immediately.  
______________________________________________________________________________

Ruby mumbled in irritation at the sunlight that was managing to hit her eyes, rolling over in a futile attempt to avoid it. Instead she got a sudden up close and personal introduction to the floor, and settled for groaning in pain.

“Whyyy?” she whined as she laid there, ignoring Zwei curiously sniffing at her hair.

The sound of shifting could be heard above her, and at the sound of a gasp Ruby hoped Yang felt guilty. Her sister’s always been a bed hog, not to mention she always insisted on taking the side by the wall.

“Ruby, you good down there?”

Ruby was about to give an overly sarcastic answer when she was abruptly cut off.

“She could have hurt herself,” a mildly scolding voice that was distinctly not sister said and seconds later Ruby felt Zwei shift as someone kneeled beside her. “Are you okay?”

Lifting her head, silver eyes met gold ones- eerily familiar gold ones- and as she pulled herself off the ground she noticed why. It was a bit of a struggle at first, as the last time Ruby saw the girl she was dressed far more elegantly. However it was unmistakable as she stared longer, that it was the Miss Belladonna dressed in one of Ruby’s spare dresses, and most importantly wrapped up in the blanket of their bed.

Opening her mouth to make a very garbled exclamation, she was once again prevented from doing so, this time by a hand that placed itself over her mouth.

“Whoa there, could see the gears turning, sister dear. No need to be alarmed, this is Bella,” Yang gestured towards Miss Belladonna with her other hand. “She just needed a place to stay the night since the whole train accident had her stuck on this side of the tracks.”

Nodding Ruby kept silent for a second as Yang removed her hand, staring at Miss Belladonna.

“I know.”

“I know you know, but she doesn’t.”

“I am so freaking out-”

“If you don’t tell I’ll slip you a bonus into your next paycheck.”

Smiling Ruby broke eye contact, holding out her hand, which ‘Bella’ took quickly.

“Nice to meet you Bella! I’m Ruby, and I’m terribly sorry for whatever my sister probably did wrong yesterday.”

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?!”

‘Bella’ ignored Yang’s indignant cry, instead stifling a laugh and returning the sentiment:

“Nice to meet you too, and I assure you that Yang was the perfect host.”

Ruby merely raised an eyebrow, tempted to bring up the fireplace, when her stomach decided to remind itself of its’ emptiness. As if it was a call, the two other girls’ stomachs rumbled, and Ruby let out an exaggerated gasp.

“Yang! I already found that you broke rule twenty-three, but never in my life would I have thought you’d forget rule number one!” Ruby shot up from the floor and threw the door open, “You always ask the guest if they’d like anything to eat or drink!”

Within moments the three of them were soon gathered around the small table they had situated in a corner, around a surprisingly delicious meal of caramelized apples and bread. Yang regaled Ruby with how the two met, and while Ruby was just as upset as Yang was about the men who attacked her, she couldn’t help but wonder what ‘Bella’ was up to. Most rich people are too afraid to leave their posh mansions, let alone wonder alleys on this side of the city.

“So,” Ruby started.

The old clock that hung on the wall chimed, and upon seeing the time Bella stood and grabbed the satchel that was draped across her chair.

“I didn’t realize the time, I should really get going,” she headed towards the door, and upon seeing Yang rise, Ruby instead beat her to the punch and was at ‘Bella’s’ side in an instant.

“I’ll take you,” Ruby glanced around before eyeing the nearly empty pantry, “I need to shop for some food and Yang promised she’d dust today.”

Violet eyes blinking Yang seemed to recall the offer and groaned, starting towards the kitchen. She paused at the doorway, and turned towards them, eyeing ‘Bella’.

“If you ever pass by don’t be afraid to come knocking, it’d be great to see you again,” and after seeing ‘Bella’s’ head nod in agreement, she disappeared into the kitchen.

Slinging an arm around Miss Belladonna’s shoulder, Ruby laughed and opened the door, closing it behind them quickly.

“So Bella,” the black haired girl held a mixture of nervousness and defiance in her amber stare. “What were you two up to before you fell asleep in the same bed?”

And with that Miss Belladonna’s eyes suddenly widened and she made a motion as if she started to choke. Oh, the fun Ruby could have with this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will Blake be able to get herself out of this mess? Will Yang managed to not destroy the house dusting? Will Zwei become dictator of Remnant? Find out next time on Dragon Ball- oh wait, wrong series... Find out next time on Fanning the Flames!


	6. It's Never Just a Stroll, is it?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake just wants to get home quickly. Life laughs and makes everything difficult. Thanks life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Couldn't wait to actually finish writing and get this out. After this chapter things will start falling into place and my careful planning of conflict can finally get some momentum, yay!

Blake was sure her face had never been so red in her life. In fact, she wouldn't hesitate to say she was blushing hard enough to give Ruby’s cape a run for its money. Not that Ruby was keeping quiet about it, as she had just managed to calm down enough to form words again.

“Sorry ‘bout that. Yang’s grown immune to most of my teasing and I don't wanna hurt Velvet’s feelings, so I take what I can get,” Ruby gave her an apologetic look, or at least half of one, as amusement was still alight in her eyes.

“Velvet?” Blake thought back to the roster her father had hurriedly showed her. “The girl next to you? I heard she's quite good at her work.”

Waving a hand dismissively Ruby nodded, “Well of course, maybe not at my speed, but she's definitely more organized. I suppose that's a given with all her brothers though. Never a dull moment over there…” Ruby paused and turned thoughtfully towards Blake, “Hey, do you have any siblings?”

“No,” Blake paused before scuffing her shoe against the ground, “it's just me.”

She’d never thought about it before, but then again no one’s ever asked that question. It’s always been about her father and his status, in fact most conversations were rarely about her. Her amber eyes turned hesitantly back towards Ruby, who had her hand under her chin, humming thoughtfully.

Suddenly Ruby grasped her hand and started them on a brisk pace, only slowing to throw a comment over her shoulder:

“Well I guess you won’t mind us then, since a little bonus won’t erase your less than well thought out name, Bella. Even Yang will realize eventually, then you’ll have to pay her back too.”

A smile graced her face at Ruby’s comment. It was an interesting way to phrase it, but it only served to make Blake feel all the more comfortable. If there was one thing she could understand it was the business lingo she had been force fed since birth, however it also reminded her of the cons.

Attempting to hide this from her father- as if Adam randomly appearing outside her room wasn’t enough, actually revealing her identity to Yang- who her father had time and time again mentioned her dislike of aristocrats, and worst of all- dealing with Ruby’s inopportune timing of teasing her.

She had the strange urge to run from the younger girl beside her, coupled with the even stranger knowledge that she wouldn’t be able to out run Ruby even if she tried. The silver eyed girl seemed to be both quick on the uptake and in general. In fact, Blake felt as if she had signed some invisible contract tying them together for what felt like eternity. However Ruby acted like these types of relationships were a normal occurrence, instead continuing onto the next topic.

“Oh! I know a back alley! If we take one of those then we’ll get there in no time!” Ruby suddenly exclaimed, grabbing Blake’s arm and yanking her to the left.

Train of thought changed, she attempted to stomach the slight unease with yesterday’s incident, telling herself nothing would happen in daytime. Blake followed closely, or was rather dragged unceremoniously, the only thing holding Ruby off from a full on sprint was Blake’s injuries. 

“Perhaps it’s a good thing I’m not wearing one of my dresses…” Blake muttered as they made their way through dirt and trash filled alleys. At what Blake felt was the fifth left they’ve taken, they rounded the corner, Blake bumping into Ruby as she halted abruptly.

“Yes, I don’t believe one of your gowns would’ve made it out in one piece last night.”

Heart stopping, then starting with a furious incessant beat, Blake’s eyes rose to meet Adam’s. A frown etching itself onto her face she tilted her head away, keeping Ruby’s small and curious frame within her sight.

“Adam, how nice to see you again. I was beginning to think you’d up and vanished.” 

His chuckle echoed against the brick walls surrounding them and he turned to lean against the wall next to them, Ruby peeking over her shoulder, trying to get a good look at him.

“And who’s the kid? Reminds me of little red riding hood, straying of the path and running into a wolf,” his eyes sparkled with amusement, and Blake questioned if he was the cat faunus, as he seemed awfully like he’d just cornered a mouse to play with.

“You don’t look much like a wolf, Adam,” Blake looked him up and down before turning to Ruby. “He’s more like a cockroach. You think you’ve gotten rid of him, only for him to come crawling back.”

Ruby’s laughter is reassuring, and Blake has a mild feeling this is just a taste of Adam's special brand of poison. It's a bit uncomfortable, searching for underhanded insults, but useful and without a doubt entertaining.

“Shot straight through the heart, love. To think I’ve been looking for you all night and morning,” he swooned, hand over his chest, eyes glued to her satchel. “I believe that’s mine, princess.”

With the momentary thought that he was actually worried dashed, she rolled her eyes and shoved the bag into his chest, making a show of brushing her hands against her dress as if they were dirtied at their brief contact.

He opened the satchel and checked its contents, nodding in satisfaction as he walked up to stand shoulder to shoulder with her.

“Perfect. This'll be game changing, Blake, can't thank you enough,” he took a step past her, ruffling Ruby's hair as he went. “Nice meeting you, Ruby. I’ll catch you two later.”

His footsteps faded behind her, the sound marred by Ruby's disgruntled huffing as she smoothed down her hair. The younger girl walked up to her, mouth poised to ask a myriad of questions, only to close abruptly.

“I know we just met, but is it too early for me to be judging who you make friends with?” 

Blake uncharacteristically snorted, the sentiment all too similar to her own thoughts. It all seemed like a little too much insanity a little too fast.

“Don't call the kettle black Ruby,” she threw back as they began walking once more.

“What?”

Oh, right, maybe while she's entangled in this friendship she should teach Ruby some literature. 

“Hey, you think Yang will get jealous if I mention that Adam guy? Ooh she definitely would…” Ruby muttered, silver eyes drifting off.

On second thought, Blake doesn't want to be held responsible for creating a menace to society, People could already tie her to Adam, and that was bad enough. The world didn’t need two quick-witted, sharp-tongued troublemakers, not that she particularly saw the need for the first one.

“... no doubt he’d end up in some ditch on the side of the road.”

“What?”

Ruby looked up at her, before her eyes darted to above Blake’s shoulder.

“Hey, look we’re here,” Blake turned to see they were indeed mere feet away from the cast iron gate, “Even with your friend we got here pretty quick. You should probably go before someone recognizes you and snitches.”

Nodding Blake rushed up to the gate, turning to wave at Ruby, who who returned the gesture enthusiastically. Quickly darting into the mansion she hurried up the stairs, grateful her father was meeting someone today and the staff were no doubt busy catering to that. 

Once inside she undressed and put on her normal wear, regretting the obviously longer amount of time it took to finish. The only thing that felt more comfortable was when she tied her bow, which while still restrictive, felt less so than the hat. It felt familiar.

Blake stepped back out of her room, ready to go down and make her daily appearance, only to bump into someone once again.

“Miss Blake! My apologies, I should have been more careful. I was just showing our guest to her chambers,” the young lady rushed her words, which fell on deaf ears as Blake’s eyes met an icy blue she immediately recognized. A hand reached out towards her, and Blake snapped back to reality as the figure spoke:

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Miss Blake, my name’s Weiss Schnee.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A narrator suddenly appears next to Blake, "It was at this moment Blake knew-" A crash rings out and some say they could never get the blood stains out of the rug. Occasionally servants say they here whispers every time someone knocks something over or spills something. Sadly his memes are wasted on their old fashioned souls.


	7. The Pleasure's Mine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss and Blake. Cookies. Weapons of mass destruction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> True friendships start with chocolate chip cookies and end with oatmeal raisin, the breaking of trust that can never be repaired.

Weiss held her hand out for a decidedly awkward amount of time, waiting for the girl across from her to shake it. Perhaps she was shy? Her hair was quickly shaken forward to hide the majority of her face. After a few moments things seemed to click and her head tilted up to reveal amber eyes, a hand rising to reciprocate the gesture.

“Blake Belladonna, the pleasure’s mine.”

While it was a common formality, Blake sounded anything but enthused, and Weiss found herself feeling the same way. It wasn't that she didn't wish to meet the Belladonna family, on the contrary they were definitely a family to associate herself with. However her pounding head and bruised limbs left Weiss wanting nothing more than to lay in bed for an unforeseen amount of time. Maybe then she’d be able to recall the details of the event, which still alluded her addled mind.

“Forgive me for the sudden arrival, our train broke down and your father offered to house my brother and I until things are sorted out,” Weiss trailed off as she saw the girl across from her shrug, quite different from most people's gasps and exclamations of worry.

“It's no problem, I assure you,” Blake looked off to the side for a moment before turning back, “You must be hungry. Mary can take your bags to your room, I’ll show you to the kitchen.”

Without waiting to see if Weiss followed, Blake began to walk- or rather glide- towards the staircase. Her grace and efficiency was something even Weiss had yet to manage in a gown, however she soon found herself at least attempting to, not wanting to be left behind in the sprawling manor.

It was no where near a mealtime, and upon reaching the kitchen Weiss was surprised to see Blake stride in herself. 

“There must be a cook farther in… I'll wait while she orders,” Weiss murmured as she shifted her weight from foot to foot.

Yet the girl didn't reappear, nor did Weiss hear any talking. Now that she thought about it, it was far too quiet for any cooking to be going on, the only sound an occasional clink of what Weiss assumed to be dishes.

“Are you going to come in or admire the door?” 

Weiss stifled a yelp and nodded quickly, stepping through and inhaling a tantalizing aroma. It was warm and carried a hint of chocolate, mildly reminiscent of the pastries chefs had baked for gatherings her father arranged every so often.

Following Blake, they halted at the edge of the counter, and Weiss got to see just what the delicious smell was. It seemed rather… rudimentary. A brown pastry of some sort with uneven appearances of chocolate, it certainly wasn’t as decorative as the frilly ones she was used to. 

“Trust me, you’ll love it,” Blake reassured her, taking one in her own hand and quickly taking a large mouthful. While a bit uncouth, she certainly seemed to be enjoying it, eyes closed in pleasure.

Deciding that it wouldn’t hurt to try, she picked one up, the warmth telling her it was freshly baked. Raising the pastry to her lips she nibbled on it hesitantly and instantly went in for another- larger- bite. All too soon it was nothing but crumbs, and Weiss was left with only the aftertaste. 

“That was-”

“Delicious, eye opening, scrumptious, one might even call chocolate chip cookies holy,” Blake finished, taking the last bite of her own.

“Chocolate chip cookie? I must inform my chefs of this at once! That was one of the best sweets I’ve had!”

Blake laughed at Weiss’ awe, and upon realizing how impolite it was to be speaking that loudly she opened her mouth to apologize, only to be cut off.

“I completely agree! There are a few more, but I’m planning to give them as a gift- the best type in my opinion,” the black haired girl sighed as she wrapped them back in the basket. “Truly a test of willpower, my stomach is shouting at me to eat the whole lot of them.”

With the baked goods set away Blake turned back to Weiss, leaning against the counter slightly.

“So, what happened to your train?”

“If only…” Weiss sighed, regaling the girl with the parts of the story she could recall, mainly focusing on how she chased after someone and ended up knocked out.  
“Ooh, must’ve hurt,” Blake looked over at Weiss’ head as if she could see the place it hit. “You guys have any idea what they were after? I suppose your luggage would’ve fetched a fair price, but to hijack an entire train…”

“Dust, it’s an invention my father patented recently, I know it can make this thing called electricity, it’s like lightning,” Weiss recalled off the top of her head. “Father also mentioned things like fire and ice. A lot of people are interested in using it for power supplies and weapons, though it’s still a bit hard to believe, even for me.”

Turning to the girl she found Blake to be oddly pale. Placing a hand on her shoulder, golden eyes snapped up towards her, and Weiss took a step back.

“Sorry, I’m not feeling too well,” Blake muttered, “probably ate too fast. I think I’ll go to bed, your room is probably just past mine so you can come along.”

Nodding Weiss followed, not commenting on the far slower pace at which they went. Upon reaching her door Blake quickly entered, and Weiss continued on to the next door, which was further along and on the opposite side. Finding her belongings there she settled down and decided that Blake had the right idea in sleeping.

Weiss knew that by tomorrow her father would hear of the news and no doubt be outraged, but it was just a bag full. While she feared just what someone could do with a train cart full, she doubted much could be done with so little. In the end they merely poked the lion.

“And those who threaten a lion’s pride shouldn’t be surprised when they get bit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry Blake, at least Zwei didn't get hold of the Dust, then my prophecy of him ruling the world would've been realized. In the end we got out pretty lucky. *looks of at the corgi* Wait, Zwei no! Don't eat that- oh god. Are dogs supposed to glow and levitate? *shrugs* I'm sure it's fine.


	8. Monsters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There will always be those who are privileged, those who are not, and those below even that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit longer than normal, and all typed with a paper cut on the tip of my finger. Enjoy. : )

Ruby could barely contain her giggles. No, wait, she actually couldn't contain her rampant laughter at the now heavily flushed blonde across from her.

“Are you sure you're just asking about my day and not interrogating me for information about Bella?”

Yang huffed and made a futile attempt to get rid of the cherry red dusted across her face. Groaning at her blatantly amused sister, she crossed her arms childishly and turned to the side.

“I was just… worried! Those guys got her pretty good before I showed up and I just wanted to make sure she got home okay.”

Ruby had to give Yang props, it was a pretty good cover story, but you didn’t ask six times if someone was okay. Nor does asking if she mentioned Yang fit into the whole lie. Deciding to be merciful, Ruby decided to resist teasing her sister about her sudden crush.

“She was absolutely fine, in fact she was good enough to out sass this guy we strolled by. Adam, I think that was his name, but anyway you should've seen it.”

Ruby looked over to see Yang staring at her in rapt attention, a frown on her face. Ah, jealousy already? To avoid another game of forced twenty questions Ruby decided she could indulge her sister before the blonde actually interrogated her. She didn’t doubt the older girl would, in fact Ruby thought Yang had a future as a lawyer or detective.

“Well this tall guy strolled over, all casual and stuff. For a second I thought Bl-Bella was gonna keel over, she got all pale and quiet, but suddenly her face hardens and her eyes narrowed and bam, it's a little battle of wits. Apparently Bella knew the guy, he just wanted her bag, not that she was too enthused about his appearance.”

Violet eyes stared vacantly in Ruby’s general direction until Yang realized she had stopped, refocusing from her thoughts. Silently praying Yang was fantasizing about Blake and not about beating up the guy, Ruby merely rolled her eyes as her sister stood from their table, grabbing her tools.

“I should head out, don't want to be late. I’ll see you later,” Yang rushed as she all but sprinted out the door, nearly tripping on the step down to the street.

Sighing, Ruby turned to Zwei who was curled up at her feet, head raised slightly at the sound of the slammed door.

“I find it hard to believe she'd be late when she left nearly an hour early.”

*Yip*

“True, knowing her she’ll manage to get lost fantasizing about Blake. Hope she focuses at work though, don't want her hammering a finger or something by accident.”

Zwei huffed and rose, hopping onto the chair that Yang had vacated before looking Ruby straight in the eyes and proceeding to eat the food Yang had left in her haste.

“Zwei, no! You shouldn't be eating that!”

Ruby quickly made her way to the feasting dog, only to realize the plate was already licked clean before she could reach him. Now holding a very content corgi she merely sighed in acceptance as he licked her face.

*Bark*

“Yeah, yeah, I know.”

After setting Zwei down and cleaning the dishes she grabbed her cloak and headed out, still at least half an hour early. The streets were occupied by the occasional cart, and Ruby had only passed a few people when she rounded a corner and felt a strong sense of deja vu.

“Ah, Little Red Riding Hood, fancy bumping into you this fine morning. What are you up to?”

While she knew from the minute he opened his mouth, she craned her head upwards to see red hair obscured by a hat and a telltale smirk. Even after meeting him only once, Ruby was sure she could identify Adam anywhere.

“I'm going to work, what about you? Decide alleyways weren't your style?”

He chuckled, ruffling her hair much to her displeasure. If anything his smirk grew more self satisfied as he looked around the barren streets.

“Since you're so curious Red, I went on a little delivery. Even I am not above making enough money to put food on the table.” 

Ruby was decidedly unamused at his many nicknames, but she supposed she could relate. Maybe that was why…

“Is that why you're with that gang?” she pointed at the small white claw marks on his jacket. “The White Fang, right?”

Adam pushed her hand away, eyes narrowing and a frown forming on his lips. Once again checking their surroundings Adam caged Ruby against the wall of the storefront, larger frame preventing her from slipping away.

“Where'd you hear that?” Adam growled and Ruby found herself missing his smug attitude.

“Well you guys aren't exactly under the table…” Ruby trailed off, ears straining for any sign of other people. “You live in the slums for long enough and you'll learn what gangs are around.”

The man above her hummed in thought before backing up slightly, not that it gave Ruby much more room to work with. 

“Well, I suggest you keep quiet. I'm sure you're smart enough to know that it would be bad for princess if people found out she even breathed the same air as me.”

Raising her arms in surrender, Ruby nodded, unwilling to ruin her new friendship. 

“You got it, bud. I may not be a fan of gangs, but I'm all about faunus rights. Just don't like the way you… go about it.” she resisted shuddering at the memory of rumors she had heard, after all those drunkards always twisted the story to make it more interesting.

“Ah, I love the hypocrisy of your kind,” he whispered as the sound of a cart approached them. “Why act without cause, Red? Everything we do is for our end goal.”

“And what exactly is that?”

Adam merely smirked at her, finally moving far enough away that Ruby didn't constantly have the urge to knee him, and looked towards the road where the cart came to a halt. The fact someone had came was already relief enough, but to read the bold white writing that said ‘police’ was oddly satisfying. However once the officer stepped out Ruby felt both awed and proud.

“Is there a problem here, miss?”the officer asked, her warm yet stern voice extremely comforting. 

Ruby struggled to form words for a moment, and it seemed as if Adam was suffering the same affliction. The woman was tall and straight backed, a cascade of crimson hair cascading down one shoulder as one hand reflexively rested by her baton. A single eyebrow was raised, bright green eyes giving them both a once over.

“He was just a bit in my face, ma’am. Nothing I can’t handle,” Ruby answered, smart enough to not get him thrown in jail, but still wanting to get some form of vengeance.

Humming, a small smile graced the officer’s face, and she waved her hand dismissively at Adam. The man merely looked at her hand confusedly, still caught up in surprise, when she spoke once more.

“I suggest you leave this young lady alone, sir. I can and will charge you with harassment, and I assure you whether through words or fists, you will be unable to get out of it.”

Ruby could barely restrain her giggles as Adam’s eyes widened, huffing before turning away and stalking down the street. Turning back towards the lady it was glaringly obvious why Adam didn’t take his chances with her. Her arms were certainly holding enough power to rival Yang, maybe even beat her. Not that Ruby would ever say it out loud. Other than that, she had a glare that could make trees uproot and run away, but once Adam turned the corner they softened.

“Are you sure you’re alright? It’s dangerous for any to be walking around alone,” the woman asked, critically scanning Ruby’s body for injuries.

“Not a scratch on me! Oh, and don’t worry about me, I can take care of myself, Yang made sure of it!” Ruby blew a stray strand of hair out of her face, incredibly glad she headed out early. “Besides, I have to get to work somehow.”

“Indeed,” the lady glanced down at her watch before climbing onto the seat and gesturing for Ruby to follow. “If you give me the name of your job I can take the time to escort you.”

Silver eyes widening Ruby stuttered out a hardly coherent sentence that consisted vaguely of:

“You don’t- I can- I, I mean…”

After a moment the woman decided to save her from her floundering, a wondrous laugh filling the empty street before she shook her head.

“Think nothing of it. I’m sure he took up far too much of your time, and I don’t want you being late.”

Thus Ruby wound up sitting next to the officer, listening to the rhythmic thudding of the horse’s hooves against the cobble. They were making their way with such speed that Ruby wondered what rich people did with all the time they saved by not walking to and fro.

“I can’t thank you enough! Umm…”  
“Officer Pyrrha Nikos, at your service!” the woman happily supplied, steering the horses around a turn.

“Nice to meet you Officer Nikos, I’m Ruby!”

“Likewise, I- Oh!”

Looking forwards to where Pyrrha’s eyes were suddenly focused, Ruby shot up and clumsily exited the carriage, the officer following quickly. A crowd of people surrounded the iron gates of the textile mill, seemingly upset with whoever was in the center. Jeers and insults were hurled unceremoniously, and as Pyrrha forced her way deeper Ruby followed. The closer they got the clearer Ruby heard and the more she hated the shouts that were echoing in the morning air.

“How could you let these monsters work here!”

“I refuse to let my wife continue working with those things!”

“Kick em’ out, the streets are where they belong!”

Once they entered the innermost ring of people Ruby gasped at the sight of the poor four women who were sporting bruises, scratches, and most noticeably of all, animal traits. A tail, claws, however one stood out from the rest: a wide eyed, rabbit eared Velvet.

Taking a step forward to defend her friend, Ruby was held back. Pyrrha gave her a look and went up instead, turning to address the crowd.

“Cease!” her voice rang out above the yells, a thundering seriousness laced behind the simple word.

It was silent, Ruby could hear her own heart hammering in her ears, along with the faint sniffing and crying of the women behind Pyrrha. 

“Have we not grown up from such baseless discrimination two decades ago! If you can not be decent people because it’s the right thing to do, at least follow the council’s verdict! They. Are. Our. Equals. If you have no business here I suggest you leave.”

The silence was soon filled with footsteps and bitter mutterings. Some purposefully brushed past the faunus forcefully, whispering threats and insults. Ruby’s desire to punch them was however trumped by the need to comfort her friend, and she rushed to Velvet’s side in a second, holding the quietly crying girl.

“R-Ruby…”

“It’s okay Velvet, they’re gone now, I promise.” 

Suddenly she backed away, looking at Ruby confusedly. Big brown eyes still watery from crying.

“Why aren’t you like them? Aren’t I… a monster?”

Ruby felt her heart crack at the honesty and fear that laced her friends words, immediately latching onto Velvet once more.

“They’re the monsters Velvet, yelling and screaming at people who did nothing. All you’ve ever been is kind and thoughtful and funny, they’re just being blind and cruel.”

The arms that were once limply hung at Velvet’s side now had a vice grip around Ruby, and her sobbing returned full force. Ruby merely rubbed her back, glaring at anyone who stared at her friend’s ears. The sound of someone clearing their throat quietly caused Ruby to look up to where Pyrrha was standing off to the side.

“I suggest you take your friend home. I am going to talk to Mr. Belladonna,” Pyrrha strode through the gates and Ruby untied her cloak, wrapping it around Velvet’s shaking figure. Pulling the hood up to hide her ears, Ruby was ready to walk off when a crinkling sound caused her to look down. A piece of paper was strewn on the ground, a couple others could be seen in the immediate area. Picking it up Ruby felt a weight settle in her stomach.

“Monsters walk among those here, hidden in our midst. Faunus mingling with our wives and children, never would I have thought to see the day this atrocity would happen.”

Looking around Ruby saw they were scattered throughout the surrounding streets, the offensive words written in bold red writing, no doubt catching the attention of early commuters. Narrowing her eyes, she crumpled the paper up and tossed it aside, wrapping her arm around her friend’s shoulders.

“Come on, Velvet. Let’s get you home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp. It's begun folks. Keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times, we're about to start the ride. : )


	9. Nothing They Couldn't Do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bumblebee grows a little. Yang goes big sister mode.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Managed to make it on time! Lol, allergies and exams are evil thought clouding demons. Enjoy the fruit of my struggle!

Yang was reasonably sure she had never ran out of a room faster. As she slowed down to a walk a good five blocks from their home, she was incredibly glad her crimson face could be blamed on the sprint she just finished. Between the gasps of her catching her breath- because out of the many things she could do running was something her body wasn't exactly built for- she couldn't help but notice the drone of constant whispers and murmurs.

“Did you hear…”

“Yeah, I couldn't believe…”

“Don't you go near…”

Shaking her head Yang dismissed the hardly intelligible mutters. If was one thing Yang learned over the years it was that only half of any gossip was true, but you’d be force fed twice as much if you stopped long enough for them to include you. That was a battle even Yang wasn't sure she could get out of alive.

As she ambled her way to the factory she found that the talking died down, however the relief she felt at the new found silence was quickly replaced with confusion. 

“Not much of a turnout today…” she muttered under her breath at the distinct lack of other workers around. Sure there were a couple scattered here and there, but normally she'd barely be able to hear herself think between their endless chatter and the sound of hammering metal.

Instead Yang found herself left with her thoughts as her only company, and at possibly one of the worst times. All she could think about as she absentmindedly worked away was her sister’s teasing. Sure, it had all been a bit of sibling banter, meant to blow over and be forgotten, but Yang found it incredibly hard to do so.

The embers would always fade into a familiar shade of amber for just the briefest moment, the heat reminding her of the body that once laid next to her, and Yang would feel decidedly like a stereotypical hormonal teenager.

However after an hour or so to herself the noise levels suddenly rise and for a second it brought her back to when she had first met Bella, amongst disgustingly rowdy men, until she real it was merely her unfortunate coworkers.

“That'll show ‘em, bet they're running home with their tails between their legs!”

“What did they think? A puny law’ll stop us from knowing they aren't us!”

“To think they were hiding there for so long, I swear that textile mill should go out of business for putting people near them.”

At the last comment Yang’s hammer slowed to a halt, the metal quickly cooling into a half finished blade. Her violet eyes began to seek out the speaker, eventually focusing on a familiar face with fading bruises that she nearly laughed at.

“What textile mill?” she knowingly interrupted their conversation, reveling in the immediate silence and coordinated turns of heads towards her.

“What's it to you, Xiao Long?” he said after a moment of silence, attempting a condescending glare.

“Aww, you know my name. I'm flattered Mr. I-can't-have-kids-anymore. It's none of your business anyway, you seemed so keen on sharing before.”

“Belladonna,” he huffed, moving a hand to protect what she once injured severely, “where you should be girly.”

A spark of worry worked its way through her, and she covered it up by cleaning up her work area, practically oozing confidence. After settling the tools in her belt and glancing at the old, rusty clock, she turned to leave.

“Hey! You can't just up and go wherever you want!” the voice behind Yang sounded eerily like someone she put in her mildly important category, and she sighed as she turned her head to see her boss.

“I got here early, your men got here over an hour late. I deserve a break, considering they already work half as slow as me,” she took in the narrowed eyes and down-turned mouth before shrugging, seems like his face is just stuck that way, “Be back in an hour, boss!”

For the second time that day, Yang sprinted. An hour was stretching it, as the factory was basically on the opposite side of the city. As she forcefully made her way through the flow of passerby, nearly getting hit by a cart or two, the girl as she slowly but surely reached the gleaming gates she saw every evening.

Like the factory, the property was deserted. Her venture further in yielded the same results, and so she turned heel to try their house, before the sound of a door creaking open caught her attention.

Many realizations happened the moment she laid eyes on the figure. A) The girl she had known as Bella looked absolutely beautiful, B) Belladonna is her last name, and thus everything Yang was told was a lie, and C) had Yang mentioned she was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.

Yang knew next to nothing about fashion and even less about dresses, but the way it seemed to be made for the girl’s body in both color and shape would no doubt make Ruby drool over the design. However Yang was too busy hoping she wasn’t actually drooling over other things.

As golden eyes casually drifted across the buildings, they suddenly found Yang, and they both visibly gasped. Looking left and right for others, the girl made her way over to Yang quickly, a faint dusting of pink gracing her pale cheeks.

“Yang, I can expl-”

Holding up a hand to garner silence, Yang dropped it down and offered it towards her.

“Yang Xiao Long, blacksmith, best sister in existence,” for a second her hand remained hovering in the air before she added, “believer in second chances.”

With the blush darkening a laugh rang out that warmed Yang to the core, and soon her hand enveloped the smaller, softer one of the girl across from her.

“Blake Belladonna, heir to this mill, incredibly embarrassed,” she shifted something previously hidden tucked under her arm. “I can offer you apology cookies.”

“You should’ve started with that!” Yang exclaimed, laughing as she enthusiastically took the gift, immediately taking one out and nearly swallowing it whole. Between the loud eating and Blake’s continuing giggles at her antics, Yang felt as if they were the only two people there. Well, they were the only ones there but it felt like more. Normally the place was bustling from sun up to sundown…

“Not that I’m not totally loving these apology cookies, but where exactly is everyone? I heard something had happened…” Yang trailed off as Blake’s smile immediately disappeared, the smaller girl scanned the area before kneeling down and swiping a paper angrily off the ground. Holding it out as if she’d like to get rid of it as soon as possible, Yang quickly took it.

Yang was prone to anger, she was naturally hotheaded and this time was no different. If anything it was worse, she hadn’t felt this vexed since…. well since the fire. She crumpled up the offending object and threw it, stomping her well worn boots and huffing.

“Was anyone hurt? They better have not started anything they can’t finish,” Yang took in the equally as upset girl managed to calm down a bit.

“Thankfully no one was seriously injured. There were some scrapes and bruises until a very kind officer broke the mob up. In fact she was accompanied by your sister, a friend of hers was one of the victims.”

“Velvet…” Yang thought worriedly, the timid girl was one of the nicest people Yang knew. The brunette was quick to open her home and help to them, she didn’t deserve that for being her.

“Yes, Ruby took her home. They’re probably still together.”

“Right,” Yang settled the basket in the crook of her arm and looked at the clock tower in the distance. Her job could wait, they were more important.

“They need you,” Blake confirmed Yang’s thoughts. “Send them my regards, I’ll try to get out soon and see if I can manage to visit.”

“Got it.”

There were no goodbyes. Their conversation felt nice and rounded there, so as a door began to open from across the mill they locked eyes, nodded, and headed their separate ways.

The walk to line of houses the Scarlatina residence was on was significantly shorter and soon the blond was at the door knocking anxiously. For a second there was the sound of movement and the door swung open to reveal the familiar mop of short black hair and silver eyes.

“Sis! What are you doing here?” Ruby asked as she stepped back to allow Yang inside.

“Heard the news. Wanted to see if our friend was alright, wanted to see if she wanted me to beat up some people for her.”

Velvet, who was previously cradling a cup of tea and thoroughly nestled in Ruby’s cloak nearly jumped at the sudden visitor. Eyes widening at the last statement she fervently shook her head no.

“There’s no need for such violence!”

“Calm down V, I was just kidding,” Yang said, ruffling her now unwrapped brown hair. “Wish they got that notion too though.”

Settling down around the girl the two sisters made themselves comfortable, and Yang remembered the present she was given.

“Fear not fair maidens, your knight has arrived not only offering you protection, but bearing sweet gifts!” 

The girls eyes trained onto the basket, and soon there was only the sound of chewing. Yang refrained though, eyes carefully observing Velvet’s movements. There were a few visible scrapes on her arm and her wrist was a light purple, the hand instinctively reaching for a cookie before straining and being brought quickly back. Yang would have to wrap that, and once Mr. Scarlatina got back from work she’d tell him about re-wrapping it everyday.

At first Yang was worried about other scars, emotional ones, but as she watched the two younger girls talk she felt that it was nothing that Velvet couldn’t overcome. They were both young, strong in their own ways, and as long as they had each other to pick one of them up when the other fell down, Yang knew there was nothing they couldn’t do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That weird moment when I feel mildly RubyxVelvet. This story is just taking the wheel and sailing my ship wherever it wants. Oh well, anyone up for some red velvet or should I commandeer us another ship for our favorite energy filled character?


	10. Checkmate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What shenanigans Adam had been up to before his run in with Ruby. Poor Weiss. My girl needs a drink to deal with all this crap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Adam, how I hate you but love writing you. Your wit knows no bounds.

Weiss was often described as an intelligent girl, constantly calm and collected. Very little phased her, and even then it had to be something truly ridiculous to garner a response that was more than a raised eyebrow. Thus, no one would believe that she let out a startled yelp and shot up from her bed, however it was well warranted considering a man had jumped from the neighboring building and onto her own balcony.

For a second she thought she was still asleep and dreaming, but upon pinching her arm she soon found this was indeed the waking world. Having half a mind to blame it on hallucinations from hitting her head, Weiss quickly got to her feet and dashed to the glass doors to investigate, throwing them open unceremoniously.

On the balcony to the left of her a man leaned against the railing, the figure dressed in red and black, quickly turning at the commotion Weiss had stirred up in her haste. Other than slightly widened eyes that were soon reigned into a condescending gaze, he tucked the papers he had been holding into a bag slung across his shoulders and looked down at her as if she was the one intruding.

“Ah, Ms. Schnee. I'm loving the look you have going on right now, truly… unique.”

Whipping around to look at her reflection in the glass she gasped at her unruly hair and crinkled dress, mildly wishing she had half a mind to tidy up before chasing potentially dangerous criminals. After a futile attempt to straighten herself out she turned to look at the man, only to jump a foot in the air as he was right behind her.

“I don't blame you for that reaction, your reflection is truly frightening. Nearly jumped myself,” he chuckled as Weiss tried to calm her racing heart.

Weiss had faced a lot of self entitled men in her life, in fact she'd dare to say most of it was full of men attempting to discredit her worth. Yet there was something in his laugh, in his whole demeanor that she found... threatening.

“But appearances aside- as I'm sure even now you’d put people like me below you- I suppose I can talk to you for a bit,” the corners of his mouth rose to bare his teeth, and Weiss finally found the right word to describe him: predatory.

“Talk?” she questioned as she moved to get as much space as possible on the regrettably small balcony.

Nodding he moved to lean against the door, blocking her means of escape, and crossed his arms.

“Yes ma’am, let's get to know each other,” he paused in thought before resuming with a smirk, “So, Weiss Schnee, the underappreciated third born child of the realm’s industrial leader, fencing prodigy despite constant ridicule from men and women alike, what's your opinion on cats?”

“How did you know..?”

“What I know is unimportant, I'm far more interested in what I don't know. So tell me, you a cat person?”

She had to be hallucinating. There was so little sense in this man across from her that she was sure he was some figment of her imagination. What do her feelings on an animal offer to him in terms of intelligence?

“I suppose they're nice. My sister has one and it's very well mannered,” she fished for any memories of dealing with cats, but came up short.

“Hmm,” he rose from a slouch, full height easily towering over her, and let out a sigh, “How disappointing.”

Pacing the area in front of the her he shoved his hands in his pockets, finally passing her with a hand on her shoulder. She had no doubt that had they have been on the street it would look like no more than a friendly gesture, but Weiss was worried that her bones would snap under the pressure.

“Let me tell you something Ms. Schnee, it’s something I’ve learned a long time ago. There’s something to be learned in everything. The simplest question can garner a thousand answers if one knows how to phrase it.” Letting go of her shoulder he moved to the railing and turned to look at her, “For example you don’t think on things you find unimportant, lack compassion, and value trivial niceties over actual traits. Next time we meet, I’ll ask you what you learned about me.”

With that he vaulted over the railing.

Of the fifth floor.

Oh no.

Weiss bolted to look over the railing, because no matter how creepy and odd the man was, had he been real that drop would’ve killed him. She had no desire to see his bent and broken corpse, and so when she scanned the slowly brightening outside for any sign she was both relieved and confused at the sight of nothing but immaculate grass.

“He’s gone?” she must have been hit harder than she remembered. The fact he made it onto the balcony was improbable, but vanishing into thin air was completely and utterly impossible.

However while the man was gone, it appeared that people had begun moving around the grounds, and far louder than Weiss would’ve expected. The slowly but surely raising sound of voices reached her ears, and she decided that sleep would no longer be an option.

Dressing and exiting her room she turned toward the stairwell only to notice something. Blake’s room was the one to her left. The one the man had been waiting outside of. Perhaps he was a thief? He certainly had the charisma of a pickpocket, Weiss wasn’t sure she’d notice him stealing something from her, she’d be to busy trying to follow his vexing conversation.

But he was just waiting there.

She found herself thinking on his last words as she absentmindedly strolled down the corridors, the shouts outside drowned out by her own thoughts. Weiss had learned absolutely nothing from the man, anything she could bother to consider felt like a mask. A very realistic and intricate mask, but a facade nonetheless.

Weiss had that feeling she often felt when her sister had taught her how to play chess as a child. The acknowledgement that she had been checkmated, though it normally never happened in one turn. Or, she pondered as a policewoman came to ask her if she had seen any strange figures lurking around, perhaps the game hadn’t even started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mind games! How I would love to see a showdown between Zwei and Adam... *Writes down a note to fit that in later* Place your bets now folks, who will come out victorious? My money will always be on our beloved corgi <3.


	11. Love, Blake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby, Velvet, and Yang bonding time!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Just wanted to say thanks for the support, to have over a thousand of y'all even bother to glance at this means the world! (^^)

Ruby was extremely warm. Not uncomfortably so, rather in her years of worn out clothes and thin blankets she’d like to think her concept of most luxuries were lackluster to say the least. However, as she sleepily shifted, finding a weight pressing down on her legs, she was undeniably the most warm she had ever been.  
If only everything else was as perfect.

Rather than the rest of her situation feeling wonderful, it instead felt reminiscent of the days when she and Yang were moving, when wooden floors were their chairs and bed. As Ruby opened her sleep crusted eyes, she found that her deductions had been correct, as the upper part of her body was awkwardly curled up in the least painful position it could find.

Shifting slightly she found the lower half of her body unable to respond, as well as having found herself stifling giggles as something tickled her stomach. Silver irises shifted down to find Velvet curled up in her lap, long brown ears twitching as she slept, the one that was bent slightly tickling her once again. 

“Holy- *pffft*- that’s both c-cute, and horribly t-tickly!” 

Laughter even harder to stifle at the sight of the culprit behind her giggles, Ruby slowly and shakily slid out from under Velvet, breathing heavily by the time she freed herself from her confinement. As she calmed down, she watched as her friend shuffled around as if searching for her, before finding the blanket they had manage to discard in the night and pulling it back on.

The warmth returned, oddly enough, but Ruby dismissed it as she wondered where the blanket had come from. The two of them never grabbed one, having passed out somewhere in the middle of the conversation, however the answer soon presented itself in the form of a surprisingly loud snore.

Turning she saw her sister passed out in the arm chair, draped across it as if she had taken up the blankets job, and every so often she let out a snore that left Ruby wondering how they hadn’t woken up earlier. It sounded severely unhealthy, and Ruby was soon glad she slept on the floor, the slight soreness of her back would be nothing compared to what Yang felt later.

Shaking her legs in an attempt to wake them up and stand she found her foot hitting something that soon had her fully awake. 

“Cookies!” she remembered, eyes honing in on the basket from yesterday night, desperately praying for there to still be some left.

“Wha-?” Yang murmured before turning over, proceeding to mumble something about a pretty girl and golden eyes, Ruby could only wonder what, or rather who, it was her sister was dreaming of.

Taking a deep breath Ruby paused to make sure Yang stayed asleep, and then went for her target. Reaching out she grabbed it, happily finding her efforts yielded not one, but two cookies. Grabbing one she wrapped the last one up, saving it for Velvet, and was ready to push it to the side when she heard the distinct crinkling of paper from inside the basket.

Reaching in she drew out a neatly folded piece of paper, and under the slowly brightening light of the window Ruby read the outside, or attempted to. The handwriting was very intricate, the cursive flowing and loopy, and while it looked undeniably beautiful, it was very hard to decipher. Eventually she manage to make it out though, and couldn’t hold in her squeal of excitement.

“To: Yang Xiao Long. From: Blake Belladonna.” 

“Oh, my gosh!” Ruby exclaimed as she made out the penmanship, jumping as she heard a yelp, a thump, and another yelp.

Suddenly Yang was right next to her, and if she was going to probably be in pain before, now she was definitely in a lot of it.

“Goddamn floor, my shoulder!” Yang attempted to rise before conceding to lay on the floor, “Scratch that, my everything!”

After making sure her older sister wasn’t bleeding, Ruby excitedly waved the letter in front of her, the blond confusedly staring up at it before lazily grabbing it. Violet eyes narrowed as Yang looked at it, before she handed it back, looking distinctly unimpressed.

“While I am certainly skilled at many things, I’m afraid my reading skills are basically nonexistent,” she yawned as she shifted to lay on her back. “Looks pretty though.”

“Of course it does, your girlfriend wrote it to you~” Ruby teased, giggling as Yang playfully shoved her.

“She’s not my girlfriend, I just met her not that long ago!” 

“Who’s Yang’s girlfriend?” a sleep slurred voice spoke from next to them, and Ruby basked in the crimson rapidly spreading across Yang’s face as Velvet shuffled to a sitting position.

“Oh, you know. Yang’s got a crush on Blake~” she watched, nearly breaking into laughter again as Velvet’s brown eyes widened and her ears stood straight up.

“Miss Belladonna! I never would’ve guessed...” Velvet trailed off. “This is like a fairy tale! The hardworking girl her built her life up from nothing wooing the rich and beautiful princess!”

As the two sisters watched their friend go starry eyed in fantasy, they turned to each other and locked eyes.

“You just had to-”

“Oh, hush. She needs a distraction.”

“I’m going to die!”

“Are you saying you don’t want me to read the letter for you?”

“...dammit.”

“Right, let’s see what she wrote!” Ruby enthusiastically unfolded the paper and the girls huddled around, leaving Ruby feeling like she was a little kid again.

“Okay… “Dear Yang, First I must thank you for when we met. I know you told me not mention it, but had you not been there I fear what might’ve happened. Next I must thank you and your sister, for I have not been treated like a normal girl in so long, I had forgotten how it feels to talk to someone because I want to and not because my father told me to. If you do not mind, I hope to spend more time with you in the future. Perhaps instead of apology cookies I might bring thank you ones instead! -Love, Blake.””

There were no words spoken. Instead squeals from the two younger girls slowly built as Yang managed to defy the odds and blush even harder than before. Ruby was about to tease her sister even more when a smaller slip of paper slid out from the folds. Picking it up she squinted at the messier, but still elegant scrawl that was crammed into the space.

“What is it?” Velvet said, hovering over her shoulder. “I’m afraid my reading isn’t the best, but… oh, it says my name in it!”

Focusing on where Velvet's work worn finger pointed she blinked as it did indeed say Velvet.

“Let’s see… “As I know you know Velvet, I trust you to get this message to her. I have little time to write this as the event just occurred, but let me tell you that I don’t condone this type of thing. Whether or not my father does is and always has been irrelevant to me. Should you need help I urge you not to hesitate to find me. -Tell her to stay safe, B.””

This time the silence was held by all three of them, Ruby wrapping her arm around Velvet as tears quietly slid down her face. Both Yang and her understood, kindness was something unexpected nowadays, and from someone as well off to extend a hand, it was… touching to say the least.

“Miss Belladonna cares? About me? I-” she blinked and wiped away her tears. “I can overcome this! So what if I’m a faunus? I’m still a hard worker and a good one to!”

“That a girl, V! No one can tell you what to do based on who you are, and if anyone tries they’ll have to deal with us,” Yang shifted to hug to the two younger girls, who smiled and laughed as she began tickling them, before a growl caused them to pause. “Although, I can’t kick butt on an empty stomach.”

Ruby rolled her eyes and stood, offering her hand out to Velvet, who took it and rose to stand beside her.

“Since you’re relatively hopeless, we’ll cook something up! Oh right Velvet, I saved you a cookie!”

So they managed to whip up a few sandwiches, Velvet happily nibbling on the cookie as they worked, and after Yang said she didn’t want to deal with her quote on quote “pissy boss” they returned to sitting around the fireplace. Telling stories about each other and their families, Ruby again felt like, well her own age. It felt surreal almost until a knock sounded from the door, startling Velvet.

“I’ll see who it is,” Yang offered immediately, brushing herself off and standing. 

Watching as her sister opened the door, she was relieved as Yang merely stooped down, waving what appeared to be the newspaper back to them.

“Nothing to worry about-” the sound of a voice echoed all the way inside and Yang whipped around, sticking her head back outside. “Hey! Back off!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any guesses on who Yang's yelling at? My bets on Zwei, don't question it, accept it.


	12. Fight the Good Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things start to take shape, plans are made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember kids, the best plans are formed along with a nice cup of tea.

Yang began to wonder if it was just an inevitable fact in her life that she’d end up beating up the exact same guy. To be honest, she felt mildly bad for him, but she felt worse for the twig of a guy being pinned up by him.

The gangly blonde’s attempt at punches were downright laughable, Yang would put money on Velvet being able to beat him. His captor, previously known to Yang as Mr. I-can’t-have-kids-anymore, seemed to agree with her thoughts, actually cackling at him. Not that it lasted long, for as her shout reached his ears, he literally froze in place, and it was Yang’s turn to laugh as he slowly turned to face her.

“Hiya,” she greeted, grinning as he flinched at her voice, “I knew you weren’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, but you should avoid picking fights when the sun is out and morning rush is just about to start. The police carts should already be rolling out on morning patrol… not that it’s your biggest worry now with me being here.”

“Don’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong girly, this is between us,” he spoke, his grip on the guy’s arm tightening.

“Technically, I think it’s between you, me, and the approaching officer,” Yang commented as she pointed towards the approaching cart in the distance.

As soon as his eyes locked onto the blue coloring of the cart he dropped his hold and fled, only turning back to glare at Yang and make a sad attempt at a threatening gesture.

“Aw, if you’re gonna start something, then you should at least see it through. Rude to leave a lady hanging,” she turned to the slightly shaking kid who was hurriedly picking up the papers he had dropped, “Here, let me help.”

“Thanks for that,” the guy said as he rubbed at his no doubt bruised shoulder, “No one ever stands up to Cardin nowadays, really gets on my nerves.”

“Oh, so that’s his name,” Yang said, liking the name she gave him better, but at least this one was shorter.

“You know him?” the guy asked.

“He has the honor of working in my esteemed presence. You should remember him Ruby, I told you about how I kicked him between the uprights.”

Suddenly the few straggling papers were picked up by two different sets of hands, and Velvet was critically inspecting the guy for any injuries.

“That was the guy? You really must’ve kicked hard, he seemed terrified,” Ruby praised her as she looked off in the direction he fled as if she could still catch a glimpse, then whispering to Yang, “Sorry it took so long, Velvet was a bit frightened and I had to calm her down.”

“You must be tired, come sit for a little bit,” Velvet offered the guy, seemingly just as tired as he was.”

Soon they were situated in the few mismatched chairs they could gather, sipping on the tea Velvet had made. Jaune, as the guy hastily introduced himself after realizing he had neglected doing so, seemed to fit right in with their weird group. He had soon garnered their undivided attention with how much he knew about Yang, as apparently stories about the blonde were well known among most. 

“I can’t believe you’re the Yang Xiao Long. To scare Cardin off you really must be what they say…” he looked at Yang as if she were some superhero from the little comics in the papers he sells.

“What exactly do they say?” Yang asked, interested considering the only things she hears are lackluster to say the least.

“My sisters constantly talk about how you were going out into the workplace and fighting for equality. They really look up to you. Well, they’re not the only ones, you’re a real civil rights figure,” he looked off into the distance as if he continue for far longer.

“Well, damn,” Yang muttered as her sister let out a low whistle and Velvet excitedly clapped her hands together.

“Isn’t that wonderful Yang!? You’re helping so many people out, maybe we can get all this baseless prejudice out of the way!” Velvet enthused. 

“I’m all for fighting the good fight, but muscles and bravery can only take you so far,” Yang admitted, cradling her now empty cup absentmindedly.

“Well, you’re not wrong,” Ruby commented, laying one of the newspapers down and glaring at it.

“What’s it say?” Yang asked, looking at the blurry photograph and recognizing it as the gates of the Belladonna Mill. 

“It’s just about what happened yesterday, relatively neutral other than some offhanded passive aggressive comments. It wasn’t exactly easy to get printed, or to sell for that matter,” Jaune explained, a scowl forming on his face, “Lot of the higher ups wanted a more anti-faunus take on the matter, but the boss Mr. Ozpin refused. I support him wholeheartedly, but that wasn’t the first time I was roughed up today because others don’t whatsoever.”

“At least you’re not being forced to sell something false,” Velvet commented, her ears flat against her head. 

“Yet.”

A silence fell upon the group, Velvet standing in an offer to refill the kettle. Upon her return the fidgeted in the silence between sips of tea until Yang finally spoke up.

“What do you mean?”

“A woman, Ms. Fall, has been attempting to take over. She’s slowly gaining the money and the support. I have no clue what her stance on this specific matter is, but she tends to twist facts and outright lie if it’s what the public wants,” Jaune explained.

“Well that’s not so bad right?” Everyone turned to face Ruby, who determinedly pointed to Yang, “A lot of people look up to you, so there’s the support, and Blake can probably get the money. We’re set!”

“It’s not that simple, but I’m sure we can pull something together if we all set out and spread the word,” Velvet pitched in, smiling at Ruby’s enthusiasm.

“Right, we won’t give up so easily. Jaune, if you’re willing to join in, can go pitch the idea to his boss, and I’ll go talk to Blake,” Yang put out her hand into the middle of the circle they were sitting in, and was soon joined by three others. “This city is for everyone, and if someone want’s to try and take that freedom away, they’re going to have to go through us first.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel oddly hype now. Nothing like these motivational speeches, almost as inspirational as the rocky training montage, almost : )


	13. Mission Impossible

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phase one, start!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ships sailing folks, that sweet, sweet Bumbleby ship. Remember kids, true relationships are forged over elaborate crimes... jk :)

Blake had just recently woken up, and upon walking about the grounds she thought she was still dreaming when a blur of blonde ran towards her and nearly toppled her over. The gates were open for not even ten minutes, yet Yang was energetically speaking to her as if the sun hadn’t just appeared in the sky an hour ago.

While she could hardly comprehend the beginning, tiredly waving as Ruby and Velvet passed by them and into the mill, she quickly sobered at the mention of Faunus. Leading Yang away from the entrance she took a seat on one of the many benches lining the side of the mansion.

“So we need a lot of money to keep the company afloat, with the recent incidents I feel the masses just need a little push to go back to pre-revolution thinking. We thought you could help us out, since you’re… well rich.”

She was unsure how to respond to the blazing violet eyes staring back at her. To go against her father’s wishes was one thing, but to take money… it was what Blake considered a suicide mission. Yet as Yang stood and rambled on about their half thought out plan, she could feel her resistance waning.

“...I know it’s not gonna be easy, but-”

“Very well.”

The blonde froze in place, jaw still open from the sentence she was in the middle of. Slowly the words dawned on her and she thankfully closed her mouth before a fly flew in.

“Seriously, you mean it?”

Blake rolled her eyes and patted to the spot next to her, waiting as Yang took a seat. While one of the many things Blake admired about Yang was her boundless courage, it was undeniably satisfying to see her caught off guard.

“Of course,” her amber eyes wandered as she attempted to conjure a plan, “I hesitate to say retrieving the money will be easy, but the amount of time it goes unnoticed is questionable at best.”

“You’re not even going to try asking?” Yang commented, crossing her legs and leaning forward.

“It would raise suspicion should he not agree and we were left to steal it. Anyhow, someone once told me it’s easier to ask for forgiveness instead of permission. Not that I feel my father is the forgiving sorts,” Blake frowned at the mere idea of when her father would realize.

Suddenly Yang stood, pulling Blake up just as quickly. Blinking in alarm Blake yelped as she was twirled around, nearly tripping on her dress before Yang put a strong arm over her shoulder.

“Well that’s a problem for later, right? For now let’s focus on how many people this is going to help! People will be able to walk around without fear, and if a bit of money is all it takes, then I think it’s more than worth it.”

Blake felt her face couldn’t be anymore red, and as Yang ruffled her hair before releasing her, Blake could hardly process the fact her bow could’ve been knocked off. Hurriedly fixing it, she attempted to calm herself as Yang was blissfully oblivious in her excitement.

“So, if we’re gonna go behind your old man’s back, how do you suggest we do so?” Yang questioned, turning back to Blake.

“Right…” 

Sure, there were ideas she could come up with, but as her father wasn’t particularly fond of her, Blake hardly knew where he was half the time. Her “mother’s” jewelry was certainly expensive, but her beady eyes would notice the second an earring was out of place. In the end she found that there was only one answer that Blake was confident in.

Walking up to a side entrance to the manor she gestured for Yang to follow. Raising an eyebrow she did so, looking even more confused as she entered the building.

“Make sure to stay out of sight of others.”

“Yeah, sure. You’re not planning to literally steal something now, right?” Yang cautioned as she darted behind a wall to avoid being seen by a particularly loud group of maids.

“Of course not. Step one of my plan is simple, we sit on my balcony.”  
______________________________________________________________________________

To say Blake didn’t want to talk to Adam was an understatement. She would rather never see him again after he ditched her the night of their train heist, yet she couldn’t deny that this was right up his alley. While his help was always, double edged, this was the best and only option she could come up with.

At first she worried if he would even show up. He’d never came on a schedule, only randomly appearing when he was either bored or needed something. However after not even an hour of them lounging did a shadow fall across the table.

“Hello ladies, did I miss an invitation to a tea party?” Adam jested as he perched himself on the railing.

“Holy-”

“No need to work yourself up Miss Xiao Long, considering the distinct lack of tea or pastries I didn’t miss much.”

Sighing Blake gave a pointedly looked at both of them before dejectedly gesturing to Adam. 

“Yang, meet step two. Step two, this is Yang,” Blake mentally dug her grave as Adam’s eyes glinted and he enthusiastically shook Yang’s hand.

“The pleasure’s all mine Yang, and when I’m not being treated like an object I go by Adam.”

The blonde looked decidedly lost, and after a second or two she scanned the nearby buildings and looked over the railing to see how high up they were.

“Don’t question how he got here dear, I’ve gone years without figuring it out,” Blake warned as Adam looked ready to laugh. “The only thing that matters is that he knows how to go about stealing from my father and also owes me a favor.”

“While you are completely correct with the first statement and partially correct with the second, I’ll agree. Only because I thoroughly enjoy messing with entitled rich people.” Adam stretched languidly before adding, “Might I know the reason you need the money?”

Yang sat up straight and began telling him of how the media was hanging precariously between new management, and while Blake was sure he only asked out of boredom, she was surprised to see genuine interest in his eyes. While he was a Faunus, his gang had always gone about their plans in a more… violent matter. In fact, he used to lecture her about how any other method was a waste of time, yet now he seemed invested to at least a mild extent.

“Right, if you give me three days, I’ll have a blank check to you by nightfall of the third day. That should give you at least three weeks to operate without your father noticing, as the time it takes for them to reach the main bank for verification on average is ten days. To and from leaves you around twenty to twenty three days with processing-”

Raising her hand Blake halted him, “Yes, yes, long and excruciatingly detailed explanation aside, how exactly do you plan on getting a blank check of his in the first place?”

“I was getting to that,” he chastised, crossing his arms. “Your mother always receives large shipments of clothes on the second and fourth Wednesday of every month, paying for them with your father’s checkbook. I’ll either pretend to be a delivery guy or bribe one, it doesn’t matter. After that it’s just a simple pickpocket scam.”

“Part of me feels I should be worried about why you know such specific information,” Blake mumbled.

“While I am a little concerned about that, at least we have a way now! I’d prefer if we could do this without getting our hands dirty, but with our time frame I’ll take what we can get,” Yang said, her words punctuated by her fingers tapping on the table.

“That’s the spirit! Anyhow, you’ll still need to do one tiny little thing,” Adam spoke, getting quieter towards the end.

“And that is?” Blake groaned out, a hand cradling her face.

“Well, most large donations of money are confirmed by a contract stamped with a family crest, otherwise people would pull this scam all the time. You’ll have to find where your father keeps it and “borrow” it. I’m sure you’ve seen it before: big wooden stamp, leaves the same mark as the one on your gate, no doubt covered in-”

“Gold… yep, I know what you’re talking about.”

“Perfect! You get on that, and I’ll handle things on my end.”

With that he let himself fall backwards and off her balcony. Yang once again rose to look down, while Blake pondered what flowers would look best on her grave. She felt yellow would be a tasteful highlight against the black.

“Well, where exactly are we sneaking into?”

Startled, Blake jumped, feeling a strange sense of deja vu. Upon meeting Yang’s eyes she felt a tad more grounded, and merely sighed in acceptance.

“My father’s study. It’s on the ground floor, literally in the center of the manor. No windows, only one entrance, and anyone would easily notice me there, since my father forbid me from the general area…” 

“Then all we’d need is a distraction right?” Yang suggested, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. “I have just the person- or dog in mind.”

“Dog?” Blake scrunched her face up in distaste before realizing what Yang meant. “You mean Zwei? What if he gets caught?”

Laughing, Yang wiped away fake tears before sprawling out in her seat. 

“We found Zwei as a stray. The cops were constantly trying to take him into the pound yet they never managed to even get a hold of him. You should’ve seen it, it was comedy gold.”

Smiling Blake giggled as she pictured the dog zigzagging between legs and tripping people up. With the Corgi running distraction and Yang as her look out, Blake nearly looked forward to the robbery they were about to pull. 

“Now we wait till Step Two comes back with the check,” Yang said, smirking when Blake laughed at her use of the nickname. “You think I can manage sneaking out?”

Taking a quick glance down at the ground below Blake shook her head, “It’s the middle of the workday, people will be milling about everywhere. Let’s just wait it out.”

“You got it. Now, how are you going to entertain your guest?” Yang questioned, wiggling her eyebrows.

Feeling her cheeks redden once again, Blake quickly turned and walked into her room, “I’m afraid all I have are books…”

Feeling a hand touch her shoulder, she looked up to see Yang leaning over her other. Blake watched as her violet eyes scanned the many novels strewn across her desk, bed, and floor, blinking as they suddenly met her own eyes.

“Read to me! I can’t exactly…” Yang trailed off, a dusting of pink gracing her cheeks.

“You can’t read?!” 

“Yeah, I know it’s embarass-”

“I have think I have some beginner’s books lying around somewhere. I’m probably not the best teacher, but since we have the time I can at least try,” Blake began to dig through a pile of books, smiling victoriously as she fished one out.

Ignoring Yang’s flabbergasted look, Blake dragged her back out to the table, dragging her chair around to be next to hers. If things were going to be serious later, she might as well take advantage of this now. Whether or not this warm feeling inside her chest was what she thought it was, Blake was going to enjoy her time with someone she cared about to the fullest. 

Taking out a piece of paper she scribbled down the words, “She’s funny, strong, and beautiful. Help, I think I like Yang Xiao Long.”

“Can you read this? I’m just trying to see where you’re at,” Blake said, trying hard not to blush.

“Only my name,” Yang answered, fruitlessly squinting at the paper.

“That’s fine. I’ll consider you done the day you figure it out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have y'all heard the song Bmblb? Thoughts?  
> *Looks to the heavens* Will Bumbleby happen!?!


	14. There's Always Room for One More

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My girl Weiss gets in on the action.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My boy Zwei also getting in on the action.

Weiss didn’t think her stay at Belladonna manner could get any weirder after the man on the balcony. Not a few days later she found out she was completely and utterly wrong. On what she expected to be a quick trip to the kitchen- she totally wasn’t addicted to their cookies- she instead heard shouting and the incessant pattering of feet. 

“Stop! Get back here!”

“Someone grab it!”

*Bark, bark*

“Not the cake!”

*Woof*

Amidst the steadily growing chaos, Weiss reconsidered her options and decided to head back, planning to return when things weren’t so… hectic. Spinning on her heels she quickly made her way back down the corridor, but as the noise grew louder and something tripped up her feet she knew she wasn’t quick enough.

Landing heavily and rather awkwardly, Weiss found herself nose to nose with what appeared to be a dog. Not that the copious amount of frosting covering it helped.

*Woof!*

“... I can’t find it in myself to be mad at you,” Weiss muttered as she found her bearings and managed to sit up.

The dog seemed to have similar feelings as it yipped again, tilting its head quite adorably to look past her. However as its pursuers rounded the corner it let out a surprisingly fierce growl and made to bolt, only pausing to lick stray icing of of Weiss’ hand.

“Get the damned thing!” One of the chefs yelled as what Weiss would have described as an angry mob sans the pitchforks and torches stampeded by. Hurriedly dodging out of their way, she found her previous route to be taken up by… that, and thus was left in the rather barren hallway she darted into.

“Right, how hard can it be to get back to the staircase?” Weiss pep talked to herself, holding her head high.

After a left, a right, and two- no three more lefts, Weiss was the dictionary definition of lost. Though her pride had driven her to continue her wanderings after the first ten minutes, she had vowed to ask the first person she stumbled across for very detailed directions. Thus when she heard the very loud creaking of a door opening she hurriedly walked to the source.

“Well, I don’t think that could’ve been any louder unless the door fell off its hinges,” a warm and rather amused sounding voice echoed to Weiss’ right.

“Oh, hush. The talking isn’t helping out either, whisper at least,” she heard a softer, voice reprimand back.

Finally finding the right hall, Weiss was met with the sight of a tall blonde leaning against the frame of a cracked open door, head tilted towards a shorter ebony haired girl, who Weiss quickly identified as Blake.

Relief filling her, Weiss made her way over, jumping a bit herself when the blonde’s head shot up to look at her. For a moment they were both frozen in place, unsure of what to do, and as soon as Weiss decided to simply ask for Blake, the other girl tilted her head towards the room.

“Blake!” she hissed, bringing a hand up to her head in exasperation. After a thud and high pitched clink, footsteps approached, and the girl made her appearance.

“I’m pretty sure this is- Weiss! What are you doing here?!”

As the pieces began to fall into place, Weiss found herself less interested in how to get back to her room, and more interested in what the two were sneaking around for.

“I could ask you the same…” Weiss trailed off as she began to speculate, only briefly taking in their alarmed faces. 

The room the group was half stood in was obviously a study, an unlit fireplace, shelves upon shelves of books, and a grandiose desk to complete the look. In fact, if not for the color scheme, Weiss would say it looked exactly like her father’s…

“We were just-”

“Father asked me to pick up something-”

“Yeah, we were just finishing up.”

Blake’s hands rose to make a placating gesture, only to shoot down and return to behind her back. However after having spent many a day in her own father’s office, she knew by shape and color just what Blake had.

“Oh, I had thought your father left yesterday to meet my own. How kind of him to escort his guest over personally, I don’t expect them to be back by the day after tomorrow at the earliest,” she paused, knowingly backing them into a corner. “Then again, I’m sure both of you knew that as well.”

Stepping back to allow Blake into the hallway, she took in their increasingly guilt ridden faces, and began to feel the same way.

“Listen, I’m sure you have a reason for stealing the insignia- not that it’s necessarily a good one-”

“It’s important Weiss. Really, really important.” Blake interrupted, handing the stamp to the other girl, who tucked it in her coat’s pocket. 

“Important enough to risk serious legal action?”

“Weiss, right?” the other girl spoke, an air of confidence and assuredness hung around her. “I know you’re not from here, but surely wherever you are from you’ve heard of the problem with faunus rights.”

“Well, of course. That was settled already, their revolution for equality was successful.” 

“On paper? Sure. Though many people have yet to follow up,” Blake explained as she led them away from the door. “You saw what happened a few days ago, or at least you heard it. People are willing to beat up, to kill, faunus because of differences they were born with.”

“Bitterness is to be expected towards the winning side of any battle, and the behavior of many faunus have not been conducive to their want for peace,” Weiss attempted to reason, remembering the many, and most recent theft they had conducted on her family.

“But to punish the clearly innocent?” the other girl furthered. “Just imagine that with this little piece of wood, we can save and better hundreds of lives, because that’s what we’re gonna do with it.”

“How so?”  
______________________________________________________________________________

It seemed as if any problem could be solved with money, Weiss reasoned as they finished explaining their plan. Despite the negative history between faunus and her family, she couldn’t deny that the turn the city was taking was for the worse. Their plan was as risky as risky got, but she felt that should it succeed, it would be life changing for many residents.

“I know you think this is wrong, but-”

“Well, I won’t deny that, but do you know what would make it so much better?” Weiss asked, the rebellious feeling welling in her stomach becoming more and more enjoyable as the two turned to look at each other.

“What?” the other girl asked, who had introduced herself as Yang somewhere in their lengthy conversation.

“If a daughter of the Schnee Industry also showed her support towards the company and in extension the progress of faunus rights.”

The silence and growing smiles made Weiss feel all the more sure in her decision. 

“Not that I’m not happy you’re helping, but why are you?” Blake mentioned as they headed out onto the grounds to allow Yang to leave.

“I was born and bred to understand business, it will help my father immensely despite initial shortcomings.”

“That all?”

“Well, I suppose imagining one of us being treated differently merely due to appearance irked me. It should be actual personality and actions that judgement is passed on, not birth.”

As they walked Weiss failed to notice a brief moment of alarm pass on Blake’s face, only to be replaced with a content smile.

“When exactly did you decide that?”

“When someone offered me a cookie. In that moment we were not heirs to rich families, we were two girls. I feel that whether we were wealthy, poor, faunus, or anything else, I would’ve still loved the gesture,” Weiss paused once Yang was out of sight, turning fully towards Blake. “Besides, considering I’ve ate your manor’s entire supply of cookies, I guess I owe you.”

“Hey, if we pull this off, I’ll give you all the cookies you could ever want.”

“Well why didn’t you just say so? I would’ve said yes immediately.”

The two broke out into laughter, and dare she think it, Weiss had made a friend. Who would’ve thought it’d be all because of a cookie? Better yet, who would’ve thought it would lead to theft, forgery, and a civil rights movement?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that I think about it, Blake's a rubbish liar. Or she's just horribly unlucky... head makes connection between black cats and bad luck- wow, what a coincidence.


	15. Beacon News Company

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang finally forms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nora and Ren finally make their appearance. Oh, Ozpin too.

Ruby had never been in this part of the city, or anywhere near it for that matter. Shining windows and clean cobblestone paths, extravagant jewelry shops and scrumptious looking bakeries. It was evident how much she and Velvet stood out, they were nowhere near as prim and proper as the men and women who strolled along as if they owned the place. 

“They probably do own these buildings,” Jaune pointed out, laughing along with Velvet as Ruby blushed in embarrassment.

“Since I’m speaking my thoughts, anyone know why they’re staring at us like we’re yesterday’s trash?” Ruby pointed out as they calmed down, gesturing to the people who side eyed them.

“Well, we were being a bit loud…” Velvet muttered as she tightened the wrap covering her ears.

“Oh, don’t mind them! They don’t know how to have any fun!”

All three of them jumped and whirled around, coming face to face with what Ruby could only describe as a ball of energy in human form. With bright green eyes, short orange hair, and a pink skirt to top it off, the girl in front of them was certainly the most interesting person on the block.

“Nora! What are you doing out and about?” Jaune asked, a hand to his chest to calm his racing heart.

“Ozpin sent me out on a lead,” she proudly held out the journal, “Just finished up and was heading back to spice it up and run it by Ren.”

“That fast?” Jaune questioned.

“Yup, they weren’t too keen on talking, but I manage to…” Nora paused, voice dropping from its previously high pitch, “convince them.”

Jaune only sighed and shook his head.Velvet looked mildly alarmed and moved closer to Ruby, who was just stuck thinking how Nora and Yang would get along like oil and fire. The girl was just as confident and loud as her sister, if not with a few more screws loose.

After a few more blocks that went by rather quickly with Nora’s fast paced conversations and walk, they came upon the large sign that read “Beacon News”. The building it hung on was large and rustic. As they entered their footsteps echoed,nearly drowned out by the clicks and whirs of papers being printed a constant background noise. After turning a corner they came upon the workspace, desks cluttered with papers and books, only a small empty space to actually work on remained on most.

“That was quick.”

Ruby could feel her lifespan shorten as she and Velvet were scared half to death once again. She didn’t even bother to turn around this time, merely nodding in acknowledgement to the apology that the voice offered. 

“Ren! I just finished a few interviews, that means you’ll have something edit in about an hour or so,” Nora said, taking up one of the desks and settling in.

The man clad in green nodded and turned his attention to Ruby’s group. Now that he was facing them, Ruby could see the streak of pink that stood out against his long black hair. Compared to Nora, he was the epitome of calm and quiet. After all, Ruby had no clue how he walked behind them without making a sound.

“Oh, it was rude of me not to introduce myself, I’m Lie Ren,” he held out his hand and they both took turns shaking it. “May I ask what you’re here for?”

“They and a few others want to see what they can do to help out Mr. Ozpin,” Jaune explained, “They were there at the Mill Incident.”

At that both Ren and Nora turned to glance at them, curiosity shining in their eyes, however Ren merely gestured towards an oaken door at the far corner of the room.

“Then I’m sure he’d be interested in what they have to offer,” Ren finished, settling down at his own desk.

With that the three headed forward, and after sharing a glance, Ruby knocked.

“Enter.”

Ruby stepped up to push open the heavy door, Velvet cringing at the creaking as it moved. They stepped into a shelf lined room, books and papers overflowing from their homes. The desk was ornate and large, a mug of a steaming beverage sat on top. A single large chair sat behind it, and upon hearing the door closed it turned towards them.

“Jaune, everything went well I assume? Who are your guest?”

“I’m Ruby Rose, and this is my friend Velvet Scarlatina-” Ruby started, only to be cut off surprisingly by Velvet.

“We heard about the company threatening to take over this establishment. If it willing spreads this baseless prejudice, then we’ll never be treated equally!” Upon realizing her volume she paused and quietly added, “sir.”

The grey haired man gazed at them, his intent unable to be seen due to the glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. After a moment he began to crack open a large book, quickly scanning its contents.

“You aren’t wrong Miss Scarlatina, this city is already biased, and to have something confirm them is extremely dangerous. However, the cost to keep this place afloat is high.” 

“Price isn’t a problem, in a bit the heiress of Belladonna Mills should be stopping by to offer her family’s financial support,” Ruby offered, watching as an eyebrow rose over the brim of his glasses.

Ozpin stood and walked around to their side of the desk. Now able to see him fully, Ruby saw he used a cane, however he didn’t lean heavily on it. Compared to both of the girls he was rather tall, however he didn’t appear intimidating.

“Very well, I appreciate you two taking a stand. After so many years in this business you begin to realize that the majority of problems we face are self made, and thus self fixed. Few are willing to step up to the challenge though.”

He gestured for them to follow as he walked out of the office, gesturing to a group of desks by Nora.

“Forgive the mess, we try to clean, but things pile up. These can be for you and the ones soon to arrive. If you wouldn’t mind assisting us in our work it would be appreciated, I am willing to pay.”

“No, no,” Velvet assured. “It’s no problem, we don’t need to be paid. At least until this issue is resolved.”

With that the front door swung open, an excited Yang dragging an amused Blake entering. At first Ruby thought that was all, but then another girl followed that Ruby didn’t recognize.

“Y’all looking for an heiress, because I got two!” Yang announced, shoving Blake and the other girl in front of her.

“Forgive her loudness,” Blake said, snickers could be heard and glances were thrown at Nora. “My friend Weiss Schnee and I have come to offer a sponsorship, Mr. Ozpin.”

Nodding, Ozpin lead them to the office, leaving the rest on their own. After Ruby threw Yang a questioning glance, her sister came over.

“Who’s that?” Ruby asked, curious about the girl who looked like an opposite version of Blake in color scheme. 

“Weiss? She’s Blake’s friend, offered to help after she heard about what might happen. You should talk to her, I feel you and Velvet will get along well.” Yang explained, taking a glance around, “What about these two?”

With a couple introductions Ruby found she was right as Yang was drawn to Nora, probably asking about the alarmingly large hammer laying against her desk. Soon the blonde was hefting it about, and Nora was happily telling the story about how she got the weapon in the first place.

Velvet wandered over to the desks they were given and began to carefully go through the papers, occasionally asking Ren if something was important. After catching Ruby’s gaze she gave a soft smile and offered the chair next to her’s.

“Right,” Ruby muttered to herself as she headed towards Velvet. “It’s all coming together now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry guys, they'll soon add some blankets in a corner for Zwei to join in on the fun. Can't leave part of the fam out :D


	16. Hiatus

Sorry if you were expecting a chapter, feel free to be upset-I would be too. With school starting up once more, I don't have the time to write for y'all. That along with my dwindling enthusiasm is leading me to go on hiatus. Don't hate me too much~ I will probably be back to finish and clean up some chapters, just not right now. Thanks for sticking with me, you have no idea how guilty I feel leaving you guys hanging. If I come back to finish I hope you'll check it out. Love you guys <3


	17. Sooner or Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few weeks into helping out Beacon News, Yang and Blake take a well deserved break, or try to at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is anyone still around to read this? I died for so long, school was and is killing me, but hopefully this will make it up to you guys. Some bumblebee and juicy plot.

Yang was never one to plan ahead. She lived in the moment and dealt with the consequences when they came. Was it the smartest thing to do? Probably not, but damn if it wasn’t more enjoyable.

“Again!” Blake’s voice echoed from behind the printing presses. “Yang, can you come help me with this? The damned thing’s jammed again.”

“Sure, but can you blame it? Hardly used for who knows how long, and now we’re constantly printing papers,” Yang commented, stepping over a contentedly napping Zwei, and around to Blake.

Sales might have started out a bit disheartening, but when Velvet suggested handing out the first few issues for free, popularity quickly started to climb. Sure, the North part of town wasn’t buying, but they couldn’t ignore what the rest of the town was talking about.

“Wow, really got stuck this time. I’ll have to lift the entire frame to get the paper out,” Yang rolled her shoulders before lifting the metal, allowing Blake to slide the now wrinkled paper out.

Setting it down with a huff, the blonde glanced at the ruined, half printed news. It wasn’t the one she and Blake had worked on, though she could recall Nora getting swingy with her hammer while ranting about the city council.

“What’s that second word, fabricating?” Yang questioned, hoping her pronunciation wasn’t to horrible.

“It’s basically making something up with bad intentions. Nora got really interested when Ruby talked about how little she was paid. My father tells them it’s because of a taxes on factories, but everyone’s going to know that it’s just more money for the rich.” Blake sighed, crumpling the paper before tossing it aside.

To avoid suspicion the ebony haired girl had taken to wearing basic dresses, and Yang knew it was partially to stop feeling guilty. Blake was naturally upset about what had been happening, but she wasn’t exactly suffering from it. The only thing that stayed the same was the bow atop her head, which she fidgeted with often.

“Hey, how about we stop by the market and pick up some food for when Ruby, Weiss, and Velvet get back from interviewing,” moving to pull on her jacket, Yang heard Blake’s footsteps trailing after her and smirked at her influence on the girl.

“You know Velvet asked me to finish editing her story…” Blake halfheartedly protested, already shrugging on her own coat.

“Yep, and if I recall correctly, you’ve read over the article at least three times. Now let’s go so I can get some grub, I’m starving,” Yang jokingly held her stomach, smiling as Blake laughed at her antics.

Together, the two exited the building, locking it behind them and heading down the darkening streets. Suppressing a yawn, Yang looked over to Blake to see her stifling giggles.

“Hey, is my hunger that hilarious to you?” she questioned, feeling the urge to laugh just by looking at her friend.

“N-no,” taking a breath, Blake reached out with a corner of her sleeve and rubbed at Yang’s face. “You still have soot on you from the ironworks factory. There, that should do it.”

Despite the chilly night, Yang felt her temperature rise and hoped Blake wouldn’t notice her reddening cheeks. However, her fears weren’t realized as she instead saw a concerned look in her friends eyes.

“You’re not overworking yourself right?” Blake asked, pausing at the intersection as carts pulled by.

Having already worked six days a week at the factory, Yang could admit she was tired after picking up Ruby and Velvet, coming by to help on articles, and help deal with the heavy machinery. It was a lot to do, but that didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy it. Seeing Ruby make friends, helping out those who needed it. If anything, Yang felt better than before.

“Me? Nope. I’m still kicking, and plan to do so for years to come,” Yang lightheartedly responded, nudging Blake to continue down and into the market.

With the evening rush their conversation died down, and Yang took the time to show Blake how to pick out good fruit and tell when produce was over priced. It was pretty hilarious, how little the mill’s heiress knew about basic things.

“And I thought I was lost with reading,” Yang joked as she tucked a basket of jam and bread under her arm. Taking a bite of a peach, the blonde nearly choked at the adorable pouting expression Blake wore.

“Princess never had to the dirty work, you should’ve seen the time she bit into a bad apple. I didn’t think I’d stop laughing for weeks.” 

They both whipped around, startled to see Adam leaning against a lamp post. Yang had only met him once, but she was sure he didn’t have bags under his eyes or slouch before. His attitude still seemed to be in check however.

“What do you want, Adam?” Blake asked, cutting to the chase.

“Little ol’ me? Nothing. Can’t I stop by and see how the darling princess is doing without an ulterior motive?” 

“Yeah, and I grew wings between the last time I saw. I owe you one, so what is it?” persisting, Blake drew her coat up around her more tightly.

“I was just passing through, honest. Never thought I’d be so glad to be out of the North side, rich people get rowdy when things don’t go their way,” he commented, straightening his hat with a sigh.

“Rowdy? What are they doing, whining in their mansions?” Yang entered the conversation. 

“If only,” Adam started. “You got a hat or a scarf covering something, their convinced you’re a faunus. I saw some poor lady get pressured into taking off her heavy winter coat because they thought she was covering wings or a tail. Doesn’t help that at this time of night more than half of them are drinking.”

The two girls turned to each other, alarmed golden eyes looking into equally fearful violet. 

“Isn’t that where-” Yang started hesitantly.

“Where the girls were sent to interview,” Blake hurriedly finished, stepping up to Adam. “What were they doing to the faunus they found?”

“Last I saw they were just chasing them out of the district, didn’t like them lingering around. Some were pushing and yelling, but that was maybe an hour ago. I saw a police cart head in that direction maybe fifteen minutes ago? Might’ve escalated, but it could be something else entirely,” he explained, watching the two with interest as Yang already began pushing through the crowd.

“Thanks, Adam,” Blake added before hurrying after Yang.

The walk to the North district was normally a good half an hour from the market, but at the rate Yang was running, they made it in less than fifteen. While people normally started turning in this late into the evening, there was an abnormally large amount of people milling about.

“I think they were interviewing some of the toy factory workers,” Blake commented, taking the lead as Yang followed closely behind.

“Hey!” a voice called out, turning they saw a group of well dressed men walking towards them.

“Damn, we’re not even a block in,” Yang muttered before turning to face them. “Can we help you?”

The guys clearly weren’t sober, but their eyes were bright with hatred. Their leader, Yang guessed by the absurd amount of gold he wore, stepped up and eyed them suspiciously.

“Yoouuu,” he started, and Yang resisted the urge to hit him immediately. “Yoouu’rre not faaunuss are ya?”

“Listen, I’m sure you’re little tyraid of supremacy is great and all, but we’re busy right now,” Yang turned to continue walking, but spun around when Blake yelped.

He had the black haired girl’s arm and before Yang could knock his teeth out, Blake kicked him in the groin. Collapsing to the floor and groaning, the other three entered the fight. 

Having fought drunken men all too often, Yang had another on the ground in seconds, his slow movements all to easy to predict. Blake was fending of the other two, a sharp kick to one’s jaw sending him flying, when the other grabbed her by the hair and clumsily threw her to the side.

Without thinking, Yang grabbed his arm and twisted, not stopping until she heard a snap. Rearing back a fist to punch him, she felt a hand grab hers, and blinked, looking back at Blake.

“Yang!” she hissed, nodding sharply to their right.

The sound hadn’t been apparent before, but the sound of horses and a cart was now prominent. Coming to a stop in front of them, an officer stepped down, bright green eyes surveying the scene. Yang rose and offered Blake a hand, pulling her up next to her.

“Ladies,” the red haired woman started, “I was afraid I got here to late, but it looks like the two of you handled yourselves just fine.”

Mouth already open to explain how they hadn’t started it, Yang promptly shut her mouth, watching as the officer pulled out handcuffs and went up to the closest man.

“Our whole force has been trying to keep this district in order, but I’m afraid there are just too many offenders than there are police,” she explained.

“It’s no problem ma’am,” Yang responded. “No harm done, at least not to us.”

“Please, call me Officer Nikkos,” the woman smiled pleasantly, looking over Blake once again. “I apologize profusely, the treatment of faunus should be no different in my opinion. A nice young lady like you shouldn’t be caught up in this.”

“What do you mean?” Blake questioned, before frantically bringing her arms up to her head. 

Confused, Yang glanced up to where Blake’s bow was normally perched. Eyes widening, she looked down at Blake, who looked mortified, before reassessing what she saw. Instead of the neat little bow, there were two little animal ears. A corner of Yang’s mind absently thought they looked like cat ears.

“Oh! This must be yours,” Officer Nikkos said, unaware of the revelation Yang was having or the crisis Blake was. 

In her hand she offered Blake her now crumpled and dirty bow. Blake took it with unsteady hands, face becoming even more pale.

Rounding up the men into the back of her cart, Officer Nikkos climb up and looked down at the two girls.

“You should head home, it’s dangerous around here.” With that she took off down the street, further into the district.

“You…” Yang started, Blake nodding already.

“You’re a faunus?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if it was rusty, I haven't been able to write in forever, but with my winter break I thought I'd try. Hope you all had a happy holiday! Blake brought the gang some food, told stories before dinner, and realized all too late that Zwei had gotten into the food :)


End file.
